Archive for May 1st, 2008

In 2006, the Stillwater, Minnesota school district was forced to pay over $1 million to former employees who had been discriminated against in early retirement. Apparently, the school district was reducing early retirement incentive payments for each year as employees grew older. Huh? (I had to read that a couple of times before I could really believe that statement.) Read the story from the EEOC Press.

Not only do older workers not get hired( as Jim and I talked about in previous posts), they get discriminated against in retirement benefits. I’ve also heard of workers being harassed by employers so they quit before getting their pensions, and workers who were laid off just before they were eligible for full pension benefits. Some of this stuff is blatant; other stuff is more subtle.

AARP has some good resources to check out if you think you’ve been discriminated against.  Has this happened to you?  What did you do?

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If you feel that you’ve an age discrimination case you need to speak with your local Federal office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  They have a very good process to help you determine if you have a case under the law.  They will advise you and take action if they feel you’ve a good case.

People always say that you’ll never get another job in your field if you invoke the law.  If your experiencing consistent age discrimination, what have you got to loose.

If you’re out of work, you’ve plenty of time on your hands.  Get involved in government.  Learn how to push the buttons on your elected representatives and their staffs.  Older people vote in huge numbers.  Get your elected officials to make promises and then hold their feet to the fire.

Remember when WalMart tried to take the insurance settlement money from their former employee who was confined to a nursing home for the rest of her life?  WalMart had each right under the law to get that money.  However, the price they’d to pay in terrible publicity was prohibitive and they let it go.  You can do the same thing with agest companies.  You may be within the law, but that doesn’t mean people will deal with you.

On the personal side, I went back to school at 51 and became a computer programmer.  I worked for another ten years on that education.  What can you do to change your skills profile?

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Rentals in the Hamptons are already getting scarce but those with the money can buy this historic waterfront estate on Quantuck Bay and offer the perfect summer vacation for family and friends.

Henry Bacon, once with McKim, Mead & White, and ideal known for his design of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.,was commissioned to design this historic shingle-style manor. In an extensive three-year renovation in the mid 1990s, the architectural details, floors and fixtures were carefully restored and all the luxuries of modern-day living were added.

The 10.37 acre estate is totally private, bordered on the front by 64 century-old European pruned Catalpa trees. The back border stretches across more than 1,000 feet of waterfront, complete with deep-water dock.

The main residence is around 16,000 square feet on three floors with nine bedrooms, nine full and two half baths, six original fireplaces and 5,000 square feet of hand-pegged mahogany decks and brick & bluestone terraces. There are water views from 22 of the 24 rooms.

The grand entry foyer has a three-story hand carved staircase that leads through the reception gallery to a formal living room with a fireplace as well as a banquet-sized dining room with a fireplace and murals recreated from the works of William Merritt Chase and Childe Hassam, who painted in the area more than a hundred years ago.

Other living areas include a billiards room, a sunroom and a chef’s kitchen with a massive dining area surrounded on three sides by water views. The ground floor also has a pantry with espresso bar, an office, two powder rooms and a huge laundry room. The downstairs cantina has a temperature & humidity controlled wine cellar.

In addition to the sprawling 1,000 square foot master suite, which has two massive mahogany decks plus his & her baths and dressing rooms; the second floor has a center hall with adjacent office with covered mahogany deck, a living room and three bedrooms with baths.

The third floor has an oversized living room with a mahogany deck and vaulted ceiling, five bedrooms and four baths, an exercise room, a walk-in cedar closet and a laundry room.

There’s also an original 2,000 square foot poolside carriage house covered in century-old grape vines that has been updated to include his & her baths and dressing rooms and a full service kitchen. Other buildings include an oak paneled guest cottage, oversized four car garage and a two-story three-bedroom and bath gardener’s house with a separate driveway. The grounds include recreation and meditation areas, a Lord & Burnham greenhouse, a Har-Tru tennis court and a heated gunite pool with waterfall spa all set amidst acres of expansive lawns and gardens . It is listed with Mark Roter (631 288 5233) and Marcia Altman (631 288 5004) Co-Exclusive Brokers Brown Harris Stevens, Westhampton Beach for $39 million.

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Continue reading Westhampton Beach, Estate of the Day

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PimpYourWork.com

Are you having a hard time writing because of all the clutter in your desktop, or maybe the persistent messengers you’ve installed? If this is your problem, then Dark Room might be for you. Contrary to what the name advocates, it’s not a photography tool.

Created with the sole purpose of providing a writing environment sans the distractions, Dark Room is all about you and what you’re writing. No frills, no fancy stuff, it’s just you, a dark background and the text you’re writing. The features available with Dark Room are the most basic ones found on other text editors. It starts up on full screen, hiding everything in your desktop and relieving you of nearly anything that can distract your writing sessions.

Personally, it works for me as I used to get distracted with random surfing, instant messenger conversations, etc.

If the neon green text on a black background puts you off (as it did with me), you can change the background and font colors via the “Preferences” menu when you right-click on the Dark Room screen.

Dark Room is compatible with Windows XP, 2000, 2003 and requires the .NET 2.0 framework. Click here for the official site.

Pic Credit: Screencapture by Celine Roque from Blue Rabbit Media

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Venezuela nationalizes steel industry - CNN Money
CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) — President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela signed a decree Wednesday that orders the nationalization of the country’s leading steel producer. Chavez nationalized Sidor, a steel making company, a Venezuelan government official told

Report: Iraq’s oil industry not attracting foreign companies - Boston Globe
BAGHDAD— Iraq has failed to attract foreign investment due to persistent violence, and around 65 percent of the oil pipeline network remained idle due to sabotage and lack of fixes last year, the Oil Ministry said Tuesday. Inspector General Abdul

Acquisitions: Sirius, XM extend merger accord - Baltimore Sun
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. agreed to extend their merger accord as they await regulatory approval from the Federal Communications Commission. The two companies “agreed not to exercise their rights to terminate

Opening Glance: Machinery stocks rise in early trading - Forbes
Shares of machinery companies rose Wednesday, along with the broader market, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates and its assessment of the economy. Also on Wednesday, diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. said its first-quarter

Safeguard Scientifics Announces First Quarter 2008 Financial Results - MSN MoneyCentral
Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. SFE , a holding company that builds value in growth-stage technology and life sciences companies, today announced its financial results for the first quarter 2008. Safeguard reported consolidated revenue of $15.9 million

The Word & Brown Companies Acquire Quotit Corporation - Forbes
The Word & Brown Companies (www.wordandbrowncompanies.com) announced this day that it has acquired Quotit Corporation (http://www.quotit.com), the nation’s leading World wide web application service provider for the health insurance and employee benefits

Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. and T-Mobile USA Settle - Forbes
Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P., headquartered in Los Angeles, and T-Mobile USA, Inc., a leading national provider of wireless products and services, headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., announced this day the settlement of patent litigation

Cable, satellite and Sezmi? Startup wants in on pay Television - Forbes
A startup is betting that people are tired enough of their cable and satellite bills to take a look at an substitute pay Television system that combines a number of different technologies to deliver programming. Silicon Valley-based Sezmi Corp. is revealing

FierceWireless Names mFoundry as One of Its ”Fierce 15” Wireless - Forbes
mFoundry, the award-winning mobile financial platform provider, announced today it has been named to the annual FierceWireless “Fierce 15″ list of the top wireless companies of the year. FierceWireless editors evaluated hundreds of organizations, and

Grocers, farmers face off over ethanol subsidies - CNN Money
NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Grocers and food companies are seeking the help of Congress as they square off against farmers over the role of ethanol production in pricier staples at home and riots abroad. The American Farm Bureau Federation and

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A couple of weeks ago I ran several posts on keeping mentally fit. Someone must have read them, because a company called vibrantBrains now has come up with brain gyms. Well, why not? The gym is billed as “a workout centre for the brain” and their slogan is “-

Where the Sweat is Figurative,
but the Results are Real

Also check out BrainAge, from Nintendo, with games and puzzles, including sudoku.

We may be suffering from an epidemic of obesity, but at least our brains will be fit.

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My husband has a pension coming to him.  I don’t.  I have some 403b/IRA money in place, but I’m concerned that I’ll outlive it.  So I’ve spent some time studying annuities, talking to people about a variable annuity that I “can’t outlive.”

I get two kinds of advice:

A.  They’re great. You should put all your money in one.  This, of course, if from the “financial advisor” who sells annuities.

B.  They’re awful.  No sane person would touch them.  This is a lot of people, including MarketWatch commentator Paul Farrell, who recently bashed annuities.  If you read his article, you would run from annuities.

So I read the comments about his article (all 83 of them).  Maybe they’re not so bad.  I also talked to an advisor from Fidelity (they don’t really sell annuities, and he stated they are on salary, so they don’t have any financial incentive to sell them.

So now I’m really confused.  Have any of you bought a variable annuity?  Did you think the fees were too high?   Do you have any suggestions for me?

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