Retirement SINKHOLES...

This Forbes article highlights the WHY of our business...both from a PHYSICAL standpoint and a FINANCIAL one.  Great facts here...especially regarding family support and medical requirements to look for. Dennis

Retirement Sinkholes

Recently a massive sink hole swallowed up nine classic Corvette automobiles at an estimated loss of $3,000,000.  There’s actually a video of this hole gobbling up these iconic and very valuable Vettes, which serves as a reminder of what can happen to new and future retirees’ life savings if they don’t avoid their own retirement sinkholes.

Sponsoring Opportunity?

Hey...next time they hold one of these in my town, I'm showing up.  In Atlantic City there would have been at least 950 prospects!  Dennis

1,000 turn out for 50 casino jobs in Atlantic City

By WAYNE PARRY

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - More than 1,000 people showed up at an Atlantic City casino, hoping to get one of 50 jobs it was offering.

The Golden Nugget held what it termed an "emergency jobs fair" on Wednesday, designed to bring on immediate help for this weekend and beyond.

General Manager Tom Pohlman says the casino's business has picked up significantly of late, due in part to customers from the former Atlantic Club coming to the Golden Nugget.

The Atlantic Club shut down last month, putting 1,600 people out of work.

Among them was Patricia Van Woerat, who was in line hoping for a coffee shop job.

Pohlman says the casino had planned to hire 50 people, but will probably double that total for jobs that start as soon as Friday.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Are We Neglecting Our Young?

There is a SERIOUS lack of "independence" for a significant percentage of young adults in America today.  This article suggests that we have "fundamentally failed our young people" by not equipping them with "the skills and values they need to be successful in the real world."  What are your thoughts on this?  Dennis

29 Percent Of All U.S. Adults Under The Age Of 35 Are Living With Their Parents

Why are so many young adults in America living with their parents?  According to a stunning Gallup survey that was recently released, nearly three out of every ten adults in the United States under the age of 35 are still living at home with Mom and Dad.  This closely lines up with a Pew Research Center analysis of Census data that looked at a younger sample of Americans which found that 36 percent of Americans 18 to 31 years old were still living with their parents.  That was the highest level that had ever been recorded.  Overall, approximately 25 million U.S. adults are currently living at home with their parents according to Time Magazine.  So what is causing all of this?  Well, there are certainly a lot of factors.  Overwhelming student loan debt, a depressing lack of jobs and the high cost of living are all definitely playing a role.  But many would argue that what we are witnessing goes far beyond temporary economic conditions.  There are many that believe that we have fundamentally failed our young people and have neglected to equip them with the skills and values that they need to be successful in the real world.

More Americans than ever before seem to be living in a state of "perpetual adolescence".  

FULL ARTICLE

78% Think It Will Be HARDER for the "American Dream"

People are struggling to see a better path forward.  We have an excellent suggestion!  Dennis

McClatchy-Marist Poll: American dream seen as out of reach

WASHINGTON — Racing into a new century in which many of the old rules don’t seem to apply anymore, Americans are overwhelmingly pessimistic about their chances of achieving and sustaining the American dream, according to a new Marist-McClatchy Poll.

They see an economic system in which they have to work harder than ever to get ahead, and a political system that’s unresponsive to their needs. They see the wealthy allowed to play by a different set of rules from everyone else.

Eight out of 10 Americans think it’s harder now than before, taking more effort to get ahead than it did for previous generations. Just 15 percent think it takes the same work as it did before, and a scant 5 percent think it’s easier now.

And Americans don’t think it will get better soon, with 78 percent thinking it also will be harder for the next generation to get ahead.

"...how am I going to keep up with inflation?"

Opportunity to introduce our program–that's what happens when median income is up only 1% a year and food inflation is "far greater than the government thinks it is."  Dennis

Food prices soar as incomes stand still

NEW YORK - Writer Jen Singer, the mother of two teenage boys, wrestles with her grocery list every week to keep the household budget from getting away from her.

"I'd like the government to stop by my house, come food shopping with me and see where the real costs are," she said.

The adage "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is impossible thanks to apple prices, she said.

"We go through one of these every few days," she said, holding a loaf of bread. "It's a big part of my take home pay."

"...In Debt Up To The Rogaine..."

While this makes a very funny read, it highlights an all too familiar trend in America today. Dennis

Boomers can't afford to retire, P.J. O'Rourke says

Many baby boomers can't afford to retire even though 10,000 of their generation do so daily.

"We'll never retire. We can't afford it. The mortgage is underwater and we're in debt up to the Rogaine because we're paying for the child's education," P.J. O'Rourketold the Commonwealth Club of California Wednesday night. The author is making the rounds to promote his latest book, "The Baby Boom: How it got that way (And it wasn't my fault) (And I'll never do it again)."

O'Rourke's description of the financial challenges facing older boomers will have a familiar ring. Last year, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) said the nation faces a retirement crisis.

The New NORMAL...

What the mainstream media calls "lingering effects" of the "recession" (that supposedly is over), I call the NEW NORMAL...college graduates living at home in RECORD numbers.  We have a solution to this problem–and it doesn't require a college degree :)   Dennis

The True State Of The Economy: Record Number Of College Graduates Live In Their Parents' Basement

Scratch one more bullish thesis for the housing recovery, and the economic recovery in general.

Over the past several years, optimists had often cited household formation as a key component of pent up demand for home purchases. So much for that.

Recall that last August, the WSJ noted that in a report on the status of families, "the Census Bureau said 13.6% of Americans ages 25 to 34 were living with their parents in 2012, up slightly from 13.4% in 2011. Though the trend began before the recession, it accelerated sharply during the downturn. In the early 2000s, about 10% of people in this age group lived at home." It concluded, quite logically, that "the share of young adults living with their parents edged up last year despite improvements in the economy—a sign that the effects of the recession are lingering."

Of course, the "improvements in the economy" were once again confused with the ongoing Fed- and corporate buyback-driven surge in the stock market, which has since been refuted to have any relationship to underlying economic conditions, and instead is merely the key factor leading to record class disparity - a very heated topic among both politicians and economists in recent months.

But going back to the topic of Americans living with their parents, today Gallup reported that 14% percent of adults between the ages of 24 and 34 - those in the post-college years when most young adults are trying to establish independence -- report living at home with their parents. By contrast, roughly half of 18- to 23-year-olds, many of whom are still finishing their education, are currently living at home.

Unintended Consequences of Obamacare!

According to the Congressional Budget Office (an independent scorekeeper) Obamacare will reduce the number of full-time employees by 2.5 MILLION people over the next 10 years!  Not only that, a recent Duke University report found that employers will "choose not to hire and may lay people off."  In fact, "Nearly one-third of firms may either terminate employees or hire fewer people in the future as a direct result of ACA."  Can you imagine the implications for our business?  Dennis

Duke University: 44% of U.S. firms consider cutting health care to current workers

Adding to a devastating CBO report of how Obamacare could damage the economy, a Duke University survey of top companies found that 44 percent are considering reducing health benefits to current employees due to Obamacare, confirming the fears of millions of American workers.

In its December survey of chief financial officers around the country, Duke also found that nearly half are “reluctant to hire full-time employers because of the Affordable Care Act.”

And 40 percent are considering shifting to part-time workers and others will hire fewer workers of fire some to avoid the costs of the program.

What’s more, they said in the study, “One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.”