Does Social Media Play an Important Part in Retirement Planning ...

3 years ago I would have told you that social media doesn?t have a role in how we manage our finances. ?But then again, I didn?t really understand the purpose and value of blogs. ?Today, as a personal finance blogger, I believe blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other avenues of social media play an important part in helping us learn about personal finance and make better decisions with our money.

Using Social Media to Gain Knowledge

Social Media Today provided a recent piece on this topic and shared how peers greatly influence retirement planning decisions. ?Here?s how:

While chatting with their peers, friends, relatives and acquaintances, people gain tremendous knowledge about what other?s are doing in their lives. For instance, social media helps you to know where people in your network are working, where they are traveling, what are they buying and where they are investing and even how they are planning for their retirement

One Size Fits All Does Not Work

But don?t get carried away and jump on Twitter to start planning your retirement, following your peer?s investing strategy and so on. What works for them, doesn?t necessary mean it?s going to work for your situation.

Experts caution people against being led by peer group mentality. This is because when it comes to investing, one-size-fits-all approach does not work. It is therefore advisable that you?set your own retirement goals?when planning how much percentage of your salary you must save and where you must invest.

Ideas to Use Social Media for Your Finances

And that?s the key: ?set your own goals when planning. ?Use social media to gather information, learn from others? experiences, but plan your way based on your situation and what you believe is going work for you.

So, what are some practical ways to use social media to help? ?Here area few ways I use social media that might help:

• Follow personal finance bloggers and see what they?re writing about. ?Some write about there own experiences which can help you learn from mistakes or gather good ideas to apply to your situation.
• Pay attention to people with influence on Twitter. ?You might start by following well-known people like Dave Ramsey who often shares tips and links to articles. ?Also follow bloggers (such as me @onemoneydesign). ?Bloggers often share articles they read and find interesting and helpful
• Save articles you like to websites such as Instapaper to build an archive you can revisit and use to answer your questions as they come up
• Pay attention to media sites such as Kiplinger, YahooFinance, and others to see what is trending and get the latest information on finance. ?You can follow their RSS feeds using Google Reader and stay up to date on what they?re publishing

These are just a few ideas I use regularly. ?I love to read personal finance blogs to learn from others. ?The best blogs, in my opinion, are the ones sharing practical tips, links to helpful articles and their personal experience (good and bad).

Do you think social media plays an important role in retirement planning and other areas of personal finance?

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Share this!

About Jason

Hi, I?m Jason Price. I'm a husband, dad, soccer fan and blogger on the journey to true financial freedom. Join me for tips and ideas about money, career and more. Connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus. Also - +Jason Price

Source: http://www.onemoneydesign.com/does-social-media-play-an-important-part-in-retirement-planning-and-personal-finance/

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Learning to Speak Chinese and How to Draw Chinese Characters

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The Chinese language is not as difficult to learn as some may think. It is practically the same as learning any other language, such as English or Sanish, or even if you are trying to learn the piano or guitar for the first time (remember, music is a universal language that everyone understands, regardless of their location). When learning to play the piano or a guitar, people try to begin by learning some of their basic chords, which is similar to the steps needed to learn the Chinese language. As a student, you should start from the basic Chinese words used for everyday communication with other people. That way it will not be as difficult to learn to draw Chinese characters, but you may need some practice and/or a little bit of hard work.

If you are going to learn a new language, don?t be afraid to try a language like Chinese. Chinese is comparatively harder than any other languages in the world. Still, you may glad to know that one fifth of the world?s population speak the Chinese language. In the Chinese language, individuals need to learn approximately 3,500 characters just to start (they are the more commonly used characters). People express their ideas and, in most cases, use words to express those ideas, which means a great deal more or less thoughts are needed to convey said ideas. The final focus lies in developing the competency of speaking in Chinese before learning to put it in writing, i.e. learning to draw Chinese characters, or even read written Chinese.

Spoken Chinese is actually fairly easy to learn.

Initially one ought to begin with a general plan of action for learning the words that conveys some straightforward, common thoughts like 'I go,' 'I eat,? 'I buy,' etc. Without learning the essential use of a number of the chords, they will not be able to learn music completely; likewise is the case for learning another language such as Spanish, English or even Chinese.

One common approach of learning to speak the language and learning to draw Chinese characters includes the radical approach. When being taught Chinese characters, generally speaking, the primary emphasis is focused on the radicals of each of the characters and the way each character is structured. While learning to draw Chinese characters, it's necessary to find out the proper order the strokes are to be drawn. A good way to practice speaking and drawing characters is to do them simultaneously because learning to pronounce the characters is just as important as learning to draw Chinese characters, especially for foreign students.

Source: http://chinese.ezinemark.com/learning-to-speak-chinese-and-how-to-draw-chinese-characters-7d38286e14cb.html

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German investor optimism up more than expected

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ? An index of German investor optimism rose more than expected in December, suggesting market professionals think Europe's largest economy will avoid an outright recession.

The ZEW indicator of economic sentiment rose to plus 6.9 points, from minus 15.7 in November. Markets had expected the index to rise only to minus 11.5.

Wolfgang Franz, head of the ZEW, or Centre for European Economic Research, said Tuesday the results showed that while German growth would cool off through the rest of the year but that Germany will "not have to face a recession."

However, he said that largely depended on the debt crisis afflicting the 17-country eurozone does not deepen again.

Though market fears that a European government will need a bailout or default on its debt have eased in recent months, the news that Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti plans to leave office ahead of schedule has renewed some tensions this week. Monti's announcement came at the very end of the survey period, on Saturday.

ZEW surveyed 278 investment professionals from Nov. 26 through Dec. 10.

Germany's economy grew a modest 0.2 percent in the third quarter and expectations are for another weak quarter in the last three months of the year.

Other indexes of business optimism such as Germany's Ifo index and surveys of purchasing managers have also risen recently.

Berenberg Bank senior economic Christian Schulz said the ZEW result indicates that the European Central Bank's forecast for the eurozone as a whole next year may be too pessimistic.

Last week, the ECB said the eurozone would likely contract 0.3 percent next year as opposed to its previous forecast of 0.5 percent growth.

"This could spring positive surprises for them in the new year and thus reduce the likelihood of any further rate cut," Schulz said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/german-investor-optimism-more-expected-111359135--finance.html

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Help Homeless Pets This Holiday Season! | Naked Dingo Blog

It?s already coming down to the wire for your holiday shopping. ?Children?s lists have everything on them from toys to electronics to a cute new pet! ?Make sure that if you are considering granting that child?s Christmas wish that you consider adopting your new family member! ?There are so many cute puppies, kittens, or already trained adult animals out there in need of a home this Christmas! If you are wondering why you should opt to adopt, please read our 5 Reasons to Rescue!

So if you?re not looking for a new pet anytime soon, there are other ways for you to help homeless pets this holiday season and throughout the year. ?The many Cincinnati rescue ? groups are always in need of volunteers and donations and often have events to help them continue in their mission to place homeless pets in loving homes. ?Here are a few upcoming fundraisers:

• Recycled Doggies is holding pet adoptions and pet pictures with Santa at the Milford Petsmart this Saturday, December 15th, from 11 AM to 4 PM. ?If you want another way to help out Recycled Doggies, click here to browse and maybe buy something off of their Amazon wish list.
• Best Friends Pet Care (11216 Gideon Ln) is offering pet photos with Santa on Sunday, December 16, from 10 AM to 3 PM. They?are asking for a $5 minimum donation that will be given to the Brown County Humane Society and Harlequin Haven Great Dane Rescue. You can also bring any food or supplies that you would like to donate to either of these groups!
• Paws and Claws Animal Rescue will be at?Joseph Beth in Crestview on Sunday, December 23, from 5 PM to 9 PM wrapping any purchases you made at Joseph Beth! And don?t forget their Giving Tree to memorialize a beloved pet!

Thank you to the rescue groups mentioned here and to all of the animal rescue organizations for the work they do to save animals and find them loving furever homes!

Bess is a Recycled Doggie in need of a forever home!

Feature Rescue: Bess

Bess is an adult terrier mix who was picked up as a stray in rural Kentucky. ?She is a sweet but timid girl who wants to trust, but she just needs TLC and patience. ?Bess recently spent a week at Clark Canine Academy learning how to learn! ?She did very well and even learned some things that most dogs don?t tackle until their second week of training. ?She is super smart and just needed help channeling her energy. ?If you want to read more about Bess or see other available Recycled Doggies, click here. ?Let?s help find Bess a caring and patient family for the holidays!

written by Maria, ?Mama Dingo?

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Written on Tuesday, December 11th, 2012 at 07:54PM

Source: http://nakeddingo.com/blog/news-events/help-homeless-pets-this-holiday-season/2012

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Longer tamoxifen use cuts breast cancer deaths

Breast cancer patients taking the drug tamoxifen can cut their chances of having the disease come back or kill them if they stay on the pills for 10 years instead of five years as doctors recommend now, a major study finds.

The results could change treatment, especially for younger women. The findings are a surprise because earlier research suggested that taking the hormone-blocking drug for longer than five years didn't help and might even be harmful.

In the new study, researchers found that women who took tamoxifen for 10 years lowered their risk of a recurrence by 25 percent and of dying of breast cancer by 29 percent compared to those who took the pills for just five years.

In absolute terms, continuing on tamoxifen kept three additional women out of every 100 from dying of breast cancer within five to 14 years from when their disease was diagnosed. When added to the benefit from the first five years of use, a decade of tamoxifen can cut breast cancer mortality in half during the second decade after diagnosis, researchers estimate.

Some women balk at taking a preventive drug for so long, but for those at high risk of a recurrence, "this will be a convincer that they should continue," said Dr. Peter Ravdin, director of the breast cancer program at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio.

He reviewed results of the study, which was being presented Wednesday at a breast cancer conference in San Antonio and published by the British medical journal Lancet.

"The result of this trial will have a major, immediate impact on premenopausal women," Ravdin said.

About 50,000 of the roughly 230,000 new cases of breast cancer in the United States each year occur in women before menopause. Most breast cancers are fueled by estrogen, and hormone blockers are known to cut the risk of recurrence in such cases.

Tamoxifen long was the top choice, but newer drugs called aromatase inhibitors ? sold as Arimidex, Femara, Aromasin and in generic form ? do the job with less risk of causing uterine cancer and other problems.

But the newer drugs don't work well before menopause. Even some women past menopause choose tamoxifen over the newer drugs, which cost more and have different side effects such as joint pain, bone loss and sexual problems.

The new study aimed to see whether over a very long time, longer treatment with tamoxifen could help.

Dr. Christina Davies of the University of Oxford in England and other researchers assigned 6,846 women who already had taken tamoxifen for five years to either stay on it or take dummy pills for another five years.

Researchers saw little difference in the groups five to nine years after diagnosis. But beyond that time, 15 percent of women who had stopped taking tamoxifen after five years had died of breast cancer versus 12 percent of those who took it for 10 years. Cancer had returned in 25 percent of women on the shorter treatment versus 21 percent of those treated longer.

Tamoxifen had some troubling side effects: Longer use nearly doubled the risk of endometrial cancer. But it rarely proved fatal, and there was no increased risk among premenopausal women in the study ? the very group tamoxifen helps most.

"Overall the benefits of extended tamoxifen seemed to outweigh the risks substantially," Dr. Trevor Powles of the Cancer Centre London wrote in an editorial published with the study.

The study was sponsored by cancer research organizations in Britain and Europe, the United States Army, and AstraZeneca PLC, which makes Nolvadex, a brand of tamoxifen, which also is sold as a generic for 10 to 50 cents a day. Brand-name versions of the newer hormone blockers, aromatase inhibitors, are $300 or more per month, but generics are available for much less.

The results pose a quandary for breast cancer patients past menopause and those who become menopausal because of their treatment ? the vast majority of cases. Previous studies found that starting on one of the newer hormone blockers led to fewer relapses than initial treatment with tamoxifen did.

Another study found that switching to one of the new drugs after five years of tamoxifen cut the risk of breast cancer recurrence nearly in half ? more than what was seen in the new study of 10 years of tamoxifen.

"For postmenopausal women, the data still remain much stronger at this point for a switch to an aromatase inhibitor," said that study's leader, Dr. Paul Goss of Massachusetts General Hospital. He has been a paid speaker for a company that makes one of those drugs.

Women in his study have not been followed long enough to see whether switching cuts deaths from breast cancer, as 10 years of tamoxifen did. Results are expected in about a year.

The cancer conference is sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, Baylor College of Medicine and the UT Health Science Center.

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Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-12-05-Breast%20Cancer/id-4c89d8f4c46348d58c455ed2841f1602

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IBM manufactures light-based 'nanophotonic' chips to let the terabytes flow

IBM's taken a large step toward computer chips that use photons instead of electrons by manufacturing the first 90nm silicon-based optical processing modules. It did so using the CMOS nanophotonics technology we first saw back in 2010, creating tranceivers capable of 25Gbps transfer speeds. By multiplexing a large number of those streams to a single fibre, "terrabytes of data" per second could flow between distant computer systems," according to IBM. The 90 nanometer light circuits should allow data-hungry servers or supercomputers to scale up rapidly in speed "for the next decade, and at the desired low cost," according to the researchers. It's now primed for commercial development, meaning we could see an end to bottlenecks in systems "a few centimeters or a few kilometers" apart from each other. Check the PR for the detailed technical skinny.

Continue reading IBM manufactures light-based 'nanophotonic' chips to let the terabytes flow

Filed under: Misc, Science

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/10/ibm-manufactures-light-based-nanophotonic-chips/

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NHL, union to return to bargaining, with mediators

FILE - In this file photo taken Dec. 6, 2012, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, right, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly speak to reporters in New York. The NHL eliminated 16 more days from the regular-season schedule Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, and if a deal with the players' association isn't reached soon the whole season could be lost. The league wiped out all games through Dec. 30 in its latest round of cancellations. Negotiations between the league and the players' association broke off last week, but Daly said Sunday the sides are trying to restart talks this week. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)

FILE - In this file photo taken Dec. 6, 2012, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, right, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly speak to reporters in New York. The NHL eliminated 16 more days from the regular-season schedule Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, and if a deal with the players' association isn't reached soon the whole season could be lost. The league wiped out all games through Dec. 30 in its latest round of cancellations. Negotiations between the league and the players' association broke off last week, but Daly said Sunday the sides are trying to restart talks this week. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)

FILE - In this file photo taken Sept. 17, 2012, the NHL logo is seen on a goal at a Nashville Predators practice rink in Nashville, Tenn. The NHL eliminated 16 more days from the regular-season schedule Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, and if a deal with the players' association isn't reached soon the whole season could be lost. The league wiped out all games through Dec. 30 in its latest round of cancellations. Negotiations between the league and the players' association broke off last week, but NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Sunday the sides are trying to restart talks this week. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

TORONTO (AP) ? NHL labor negotiations will resume Wednesday, with mediators rejoining the talks at an undisclosed location in an effort to save the hockey season.

The Canadian Press on Tuesday reported the restart of bargaining between the league and union, citing unidentified people on both sides of the lockout.

U.S. federal mediators Scot Beckenbaugh and John Sweeney are to return to the process. They took part in sessions Nov. 27 and 28 before deciding they couldn't help.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, based in Washington, also was involved during the lockout that canceled the 2004-05 NHL season, with Beckenbaugh attending sessions.

As recently as last week, Commissioner Gary Bettman indicated he didn't think mediators would be able to help bridge the gap.

"We're not interested in mediation," he said Thursday. "We went through it a week and a half ago. It was of no value because of the position of the parties."

Tuesday marked the 87th day of the lockout. Wednesday's session will be the first meeting since the sides blamed each other after talks broke off last week.

Until then, they appeared to be making progress during three days in New York in which they exchanged proposals. Union executive director Donald Fehr maintains there are agreements on almost all the important issues.

From the league's point of view, three main issues remain: the length of the collection bargaining agreement, rules governing term limits on contracts and the transition rules to help teams get under the salary cap.

There are also secondary issues yet to be agreed on, including the continued participation of NHL players in the Olympics, the international calendar and drug-testing rules.

In all, more than 40 percent of the regular season that was scheduled to begin Oct. 11 has been scratched.

The NHL eliminated 16 more days from the regular-season schedule Monday, canceling games through Dec. 30 in addition to the New Year's Day Winter Classic and the All-Star Game, which were already wiped out.

The latest cancellations generally were regarded as both bad news and good news.

While losing another two weeks hurts the league and the players, the fact that the NHL did not take more games off the schedule sparked speculation owners are holding out hope of making a deal that could start the season in early January.

Bettman has said the league would not want to play anything less than a 48-game season, which is what it had after 1994-95 lockout ended.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-11-HKN-NHL-Labor/id-e2bc0dfc8f8a426598616a809b93c54b

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