Five Alternative Options to Traditional Retirement

retirement

There are other ways besides traditional retirement to allocate work and leisure time throughout our lives.

Traditional retirement generally requires us to work and save consistently for 30 or 40 years so we can have an extended period of leisure in our golden years. But there are other ways we could allocate work and leisure time throughout our lives. Some people take sabbaticals, mini-retirements, and other career breaks in exchange for working until older ages or even indefinitely. “Retirement is becoming a temporary hiatus, akin to a sabbatical, and then it’s being moved to a point later in life where it will likely be 10 years as opposed to 30,” says Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Civic Ventures and author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life. “People want to take these breaks to get some rest and relaxation before moving on to another phase in their working life.” Here are a few alternatives to traditional retirement.

 

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20 Million People Live Underground in China

china

Ordinary Chinese people priced out of China’s property market.

To understand how far ordinary Chinese have been priced out of their country’s property market, you need to look not upwards at the Beijing’s shimmering high-rise skyline, but down, far below the bustling streets where nearly 20m people live and work. There, in the city’s vast network of unused air defence bunkers, as many as a million people live in small, windowless rooms that rent for £30 to £50 a month, which is as much as many of the city’s army of migrant labourers can afford. (Pics)

Membership Decline is a Worrying Trend Among Service Groups Like the Masons

masonic lodge

Inside a Masonic lodge.

Despite the impression given by books such as author Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol, and movies like National Treasure, the Masons are not a clandestine group.

“We’re not a secret society,” Bennett says. “We’re a society with a few secrets.” 

Airlines and Travel Websites Fight Over Booking Flights

 

american airline

American Airlines and travel websites fight over booking flights.

A fight between a major U.S. airline and some Web-based travel companies is having a ripple effect in the travel industry, as players take sides in a battle that could ultimately affect how fliers shop for tickets and find the best fares.

 

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HIV Street Drug ‘Whoonga’ is South Africa’s Latest High

whoongawoohoo

Whoonga is developing into a huge multi faceted problem.

South Africa is in the grip of a dangerous new drug craze that could threaten the country’s battle against AIDS. The street drug called “whoonga” is a cocktail that includes the anti retroviral (ARV) medication prescribed to people with HIV. Demand for the substance has prompted a wave of thefts of AIDS drugs across the country.

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Number of People Who Carpool Has Dropped By More Than 50%

carpool lane

The drop in carpooling has occurred in cities across the country.

Remember the 1970s? Watergate, disco, oil embargoes and, of course, car-pooling. Many big companies organized group rides for their employees, and roughly one in four Americans who drove to work shared a ride with others.

 

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Emotional Health of College Freshman Has Declined to Record Low

college-stress

The economy has added to the stress, not just because of financial pressures
on their parents but also because the students are worried
about their own college debt and job prospects.

The emotional health of college freshmen — who feel buffeted by the recession and stressed by the pressures of high school — has declined to the lowest level since an annual survey of incoming students started collecting data 25 years ago.

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Amazon is Selling More Kindle e-Books Than Paperbacks

Kindle3Books

Amazon has sold “millions” of third-generation Kindle electronic readers in the most recent quarter.

Amazon.com (AMZN) is now selling more Kindle e-books than paperbacks, the world’s biggest online retailer reported. But Amazon’s fourth-quarter financial results were mixed.  Amazon says net income for the quarter climbed 8%, which surpasses Wall Street expectations. But revenue fell short, sending shares down nearly 10% at one point in extended trading.

 

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LED Teeth Are the Latest Trend in Japan

led-teeth-007

A man shows off his stick-on lights, a new idea in teeth fashion.

Technology and the height of fashion don’t often go hand-in-hand. Apple devices, smartphones, and PMPs may count as a fashion accessory, but the latest processor, fastest SSD, or a next-gen graphics card don’t. That hasn’t stopped the Japanese trying to think of novel ways to make certain components fashionable, though. While the well-known bits of a PC don’t fit the bill, those little LED lights that appear on most home electronics devices apparently do. (videos)

 

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