In times of economic uncertainty, new trends always seem to emerge. A recent one that has come to light is the shift toward cash value life insurance for wealthy individuals. One variable that could be attributed to this trend is the perception of a future hike in taxes, which makes this tax-free investment increasingly more attractive to the top tax bracket. Here are some recent facts that I came across that illustrate this new trend:

• In 2007, a striking 55 percent of tax-free investment gains inside universal life and whole life policies belonged to the wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. families. In fact, 22 percent of these assets belonged to the richest one percent of American families. (That data comes from the Federal Reserve.)

• Also in 2007, the life insurance industry research group LIMRA conducted a survey for The Wall Street Journal. It found that policies for $2 million and more comprised almost 40 percent of the face value of whole life and universal life policies sold that year. In 1997, large policies made up just 10 percent of the life insurance market; in 1987, they made up one percent of it.

• Prudential Financial Inc. says 31 percent of its life insurance policy sales in 2009 were made to households with investable assets of more than $250,000. In 1999, that demographic accounted for just 19 percent of its life insurance policies in force.

When you consider that households with adjusted gross incomes above $250,000 face a 0.9 percent income tax increase and a new 3.8 percent investment income tax in 2013, you have yet another factor that may contribute to the trend.

With the recent volatility in the global market, our firm has really looked hard at alternative assets to minimize fluctuations. Cash value life insurance can be a great alternative if implemented correctly. It has been my experience that wealthier individuals tend to prefer cash value life insurance as one of their main alternative asset classes. If your advisor is not recommending cash value life insurance as part of your portfolio, you might want to ask his or her rationale. The trend points to the fact that wealthy individuals are placing more and more of their assets in these types of investments and maybe they know something your advisor doesn’t. FBN
Written by Bill Babb, President of Babb Financial Group, LLC.  www.babbfinancialgroup.com

A New Trend: “Top One Percent” Shifting Towards Life Insurance is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

Over the past 20 years, there have been tremendous changes in veterinary medicine. Advances in science and technology have enabled us to treat our animal patients with the same quality of medical care as humans. Many diagnostic tools we now take for granted simply weren’t available in the past: Ultrasound, in-house labs that allow us to perform intricate diagnostic tests and get almost immediate results, computerized radiography, endoscopy.  Medical records are computerized. MRI’s are commonplace.

Along with the technological advancement has also come a shift in the profession towards “specialists”  – veterinarians concentrating on one specific aspect of animal care, and, in some cases, one specific species. In the past, most veterinarians were like the family practitioner. You took your new puppy or kitten for an initial exam, vaccinations, spay or neuter and usually didn’t go back again until something traumatic happened such as an accident or major surgery.  Now, it’s possible for your pet to not only have his general practitioner, but a dermatologist, internist, surgeon, an ophthalmologist, and cardiologist! Most clients today consider their pets to be members of the family and give the same importance to choosing their veterinarian as they do their own internist or pediatrician.

With these advances in medicine have come amazing opportunities to serve our clients and their pets.  Just as in humans, advances in the treatment of diseases such as diabetes, cancers, and heart conditions have dramatically increased the life expectancy of most of America’s cats and dogs.

And while this is all good news, there are also some disturbing trends to report.  The State of Pet Health 2011 Report comprises medical data from 2.1 million dogs and nearly 450,000 cats. The report analyzes pet health trends over the past five years, highlighting preventable and medically important diagnoses affecting cats and dogs. The data revealed that parasites have been on the rise in cats and dogs for the last five years; the prevalence of fleas and ticks on pets has increased; dental disease and ear infections are up; there has been a 46 percent increase in canine diabetes since 2005; and there is disturbing data showing that cat owners wait far too long to seek veterinary care for their felines.

Every veterinarian I know chose this profession because of his or her love of animals and a desire to care for those animals to the best of our abilities. Beyond the medical aspect, we see our role primarily as being animal advocates. It’s up to us to partner with and counsel pet owners about all of the options available for treatment, and come up with a plan that keeps the animal’s best interests at heart.

Today’s veterinarian can accomplish so much more than in times past but we can’t do it alone. We need the cooperation and consent of the pet owner.  With that partnership, the day may come when every companion animal can anticipate living a life with little or no disease or pain. It’s a lot to ask and we are doing our best to live up to that potential.

, DVM, has been practicing in Flagstaff since 2008. She and her husband Chris purchased Canyon Pet Hospital in January, 2011. (928) 774-5197 or canyonpet.com

Trends in Veterinary Medicine for 2012 is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

If your 2012 out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new makeover is still in progress, consider doing a bit of housecleaning in the Worn Out Convictions Department as well. According to Cambridge University Economist Ha-Joon Chang, a lot of accepted wisdom about the way the world works – economically speaking – is desperately in need of updating. Does anyone still think that free markets are free? Chang’s new book 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism explains why they aren’t now, and never have been.

There have always been rules. Take the Cotton Factories Regulation Act passed by British Parliament in 1819. It established child labor laws that banned employment of children under age nine, thereby limiting the freedom of factory owners to hire whomever they wanted. “Today,” writes Chang, “even the most ardent free-market proponents in Britain or other rich countries would not think of bringing child labour back as part of the market liberalization package that they so want.” Newt Gingrich notwithstanding as evidence to the contrary, Chang’s point is that we “so totally accept the regulations that are propping up” in free markets that we don’t really notice them anymore. So when we say that the market should be free, what we really mean is that it should be free except for all of the regulations that we take as a normal part of the free market system.

It is similarly true with many of the remaining 22 things no one ever told us. Take the Internet, for example. We accept it on faith that it has fundamentally changed the way the world works. When it comes to change, though, “we tend to regard the most recent ones as the most revolutionary.” In fact, appliances like the washing machine have done far more to bring about significant changes in human life. Labor saving appliances like the washing machine reduced the amount of time needed for household chores and helped make it possible for women to enter the workforce. The ability to clean clothes in exponentially less time also meant there were fewer domestic jobs – like being a maid – causing working women to look elsewhere for employment. Admit it, ladies. It’s hard to deny the significance of that particular change.

While tidier garments may not seem as exciting as the ability to IM a co-worker about the Chicken Putanesca and Iced Chai Latte you just ordered at Pita Jungle, Chang points out that exaggerations about the extent of technological transformations – like the Internet – have impact on real-policy making. A conviction that ideas outweighed manufacturing, for example, led many countries (including this one) to “neglect their manufacturing sector, with adverse consequences for their economies.”

All of a nation’s economic choices are inherently political, according to Chang, and as individual citizens we shouldn’t ignore that. It’s not, in this case, that politicians deliberately manipulate information. It’s that they are as naïve as the rest of us. When it comes to assumptions, we tend to swallow them whole rather than pause for critical reflection. So we accept, despite evidence to the contrary, that making rich people richer will make us better off, too, or that higher pay makes better managers, and that the United States has the highest living standard in the world. Didn’t anyone tell you?

Chang claims he is no enemy to capitalism. He notes, in fact, that “it is still the best economic system humanity has invented” and being “critical of free-market ideology is not the same as being against capitalism.” His aim, instead, is to show ways in which capitalism “should, and can, be made better.” Rather than being “slaves to the market,” Chang points the way to making the market more humane. In case no one has mentioned it, that’s a change we could really use. FBN

The Economic Impact of Cleaner Clothes is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

The last decade has seen an explosion in technologies that make it possible, even easy, for knowledge workers to get things done away from the office. This “Always On” capability has been a bit of a mixed blessing – no longer can we just close our office doors for the night and be away from work. It’s hard to do that when your email chirps the phone in your pocket 24×7 but it also means we have a lot more flexibility in where (and when) we choose to get things done.

Case in point: I’m using a netbook and a 3G wireless dongle to write this article from our family vacation beach house in Oregon.

Let’s take a moment to look at some of the technologies that make working from the road possible.

Remote Control 

One of the best-known solutions, remote control software like “GoToMyPC” or “PCAnywhere,” lets you remotely connect to a computer at your home or office from any other machine via the Internet. Once you’re connected, you’ll see your desktop just as you do when you’re sitting in front of the machine and you can access all of your programs, resources and files – even print to your office printer.

Pros: Relatively easy to use and relatively inexpensive. No need for multiple software licenses. Access to all of your files and programs. Can often be done from a tablet like an iPad.

Cons: Performance is a little sluggish compared to sitting in front of the computer. Requires the host computer (at the office) to be on and ready to accept a connection.

Remote Connection

With a remote connection, you use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection to attach your remote computer to the network at your office. Microsoft Windows has a built-in VPN client that you can use for free or there are a number of third party VPN solutions available (some free, some not).

Pros: Connection is typically encrypted and very secure. Software is running on the local machine so performance tends to be pretty good. Does not necessarily require the workstation on your desk to be on. Better support for multiple users.

Cons: A little more complicated to set up and use. Requires software that you want to use to be installed on the local computer, which may require an additional software license.

Communications

If you need communications capability that’s more sophisticated than just your typical mobile phone, there are a number of options available to you. Here are a couple of the highlights:

• Skype is a software-based voice and video solution that is free for Skype-to-Skype calls. It can be an excellent solution for video-conferencing when you’re on the road. www.skype.com.

• Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is a phone technology that is rapidly gaining ground in businesses. If your office uses a VOIP phone system, you can likely take a phone handset or a software program that will let you have your phone extension anywhere you have an Internet connection. That means you could put a phone handset on the desk at your vacation home (or hotel room) and use it just as if it were the extension on your desk.

Summary

Flagstaff is a popular weekend destination for business people from the Valley who want to play in the snow or escape the summer heat. Making smart use of mobile technologies can help you enjoy your weekend without fighting traffic or having to rush back to the office on Monday morning. Come up the hill on Thursday night and work from the den in your Flagstaff home on Friday. Have a leisurely breakfast on Monday morning and work from your Flagstaff hotel room on Monday before heading back in the afternoon. Today’s mobile technology lets you have the flexibility to work from almost wherever you like, whenever you like. FBN

Ben Schorr is CEO of Roland Schorr & Tower. The Information Technology consulting firm is based in Honolulu, HI with offices in Flagstaff, and Los Angeles. www.rolandschorr.com

Work Where You Want, When You Want is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

Surely many of you have declared 2012 the year to make the change and drop some weight. You will find no shortage of opinions and resources available to you claiming quick results with minimal effort on your behalf. But what truly is the best way to lose weight? Just like most issues in medicine, the best long-term solution is to correct whatever caused the problem in the first place and then let the body do the rest.

There are several factors that can contribute to the body creating and depositing excess fat. The most common clinical reasons we see keeping people from maintaining a healthy weight are glucose/insulin dysregulation, hormone imbalances, and a sedentary lifestyle. Often, many of these go together, creating a weight-gaining spiral.

Blood Sugar

Maintaining consistent blood glucose levels is critical for optimal health. Simple carbohydrates like bread and pasta are broken down to glucose quickly by the body, making energy instantly available. That readily available sugar will feed your cells for a short period of time but will quickly become depleted, causing a drop in your blood sugar. That cycle of spiking and plummeting blood sugar often leads to decreased insulin sensitivity and deposition of fat.

A diet that helps correct this problem includes a balance of healthy protein, fat, and complex carbohydrates with every meal. Whole foods like vegetables, healthy meats, legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits, and whole grains are broken down to glucose slowly by the body, creating a steady supply of fuel for your cells that keeps insulin levels stable.

Eating smaller quantities more frequently throughout the day will also help keep glucose levels consistent. A general rule to follow is to eat meals about the size of your fist (which approximates the size of your stomach) about five or six times a day.

Hormone Balance

Hypothyroidism, including subclinical hypothyroidism, is incredibly common and often overlooked as an underlying factor for why many people have trouble losing weight. Your thyroid gland controls the metabolism of your entire body. You can eat like a bird and exercise all day long and never lose weight if your thyroid gland is not functioning optimally. To learn more about subclinical hypothyroidism, please see my previous article in FBN.

The adrenal glands secrete a stress hormone called cortisol. Cortisol works closely with insulin and thyroid hormone to regulate blood sugar and metabolism. Chronic stress can lead to adrenal fatigue, which can contribute to blood sugar problems and dysfunctional metabolism. It is not uncommon for a patient with adrenal fatigue to report they feel like a new person when they receive adrenal support.

Daily Movement, Not Exercise!

Moving your body daily for a minimum of 30 minutes is really all you need to keep your metabolism running efficiently. The benefits of daily movement are so well documented that it is hard to find any medical problem that will not benefit from it.

For my patients who are trying to lose weight, I recommend starting with walking outside (if weather permits) 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back every day. That’s it! As endurance builds, I encourage longer walks or other activities that are enjoyable. Daily movement should never be a stress but instead something you look forward to.

Summary

Diets that promise quick results will often lead to temporary weight loss, but usually end with gaining the weight back again. Healthy weight loss happens gradually and naturally by addressing the reasons why the weight was gained in the first place. A healthy diet, balanced hormones, and daily movement are the three steps needed to make that happen. FBN

Taking Three Steps for Healthy Weight Loss is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

What is Arthritis?
Arthritis refers to a joint in the body being inflamed. The normal joint has cartilage-capped bones that articulate, or move in relation to each other. The cartilage plus the synovial fluid, which lubricates the joint, allows the joint surfaces to move past each other without friction. The cartilage surfaces can wear thin or wear completely through to the underlying bones. This causes irregular surfaces that rub against each other, causing pain, inflammation, swelling and often decreased range of motion. Most patients experience wear and tear arthritis, also known as osteoarthritis, but it can be caused by previous injury, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, infection and psoriasis.

Where Does Arthritis Occur in the Hand? 

Any joint can develop arthritis, but it is very common in the hand. This occurs due the repetitive activities of the hand and the high forces that are transmitted across the joints of the hand with pinching, twisting, and grasping. Some joints see as much as 14 times the force applied at the fingertips. For example, pinching something with 10 pounds of pressure at the fingertip, like a key, translates to 140 pounds of pressure at the joint at the base of the thumb. There are three common places to develop arthritis in the hand:

- the base of the thumb – also called the trapezio-metacarpal or basilar joint

- the last knuckle of the finger –also called the distal interphalangeal or DIP joint

- the middle knuckle of the finger – also called the proximal interphalangeal or PIP joint.

What are the Symptoms of Hand Arthritis?

A person with hand arthritis will most commonly experience stiffness, transient swelling, and pain at the affected joints. Arthritis in the fingers can cause the last two knuckles of the hand to become permanently enlarged and lose motion. Thumb arthritis, or basilar arthritis, can cause an aching pain at the base of the thumb. The symptoms are worse with forceful gripping or pinching with the thumb –such as turning a key or opening a jar.

What are the Treatments for Hand Arthritis?
Most of the symptoms of hand arthritis can be treated without surgery. The primary goals of treatment are to diminish the pain and to allow normal use of the hand. Anti-inflammatory medications are instituted to decrease the irritation of the joint. Resting the arthritic joint can also help with the pain. Braces or splints should be worn during activities that aggravate the symptoms to help support the joint and provide relief. Warm wax and paraffin baths also can help arthritic hands. Steroid or cortisone injections into the arthritic joints are also very effective for decreasing the pain and inflammation in the joints.

When Does Hand Arthritis Need Surgery?

Surgery is recommended to a patient when the patient’s pain is not controlled by non-surgical interventions or their ability to have good hand function has been too compromised by the pain or deformity. Thus, the goals of surgery are to restore function and reduce, if not eliminate, the pain. There are many surgical options to address the pain and loss of function. Joint replacement or joint reconstruction involves removing the rough surfaces of the joint and replacing them with either tendon, metal, or plastic. Another option is to fuse the arthritic joint in a position of function, thereby eliminating the abrasive motion between the arthritic bones. Both of these options can be accomplished through fairly limited incisions and downtime. After surgery, the patient also works very closely with a hand therapist to maximize and speed the recovery.

What are the Future Options for Hand Arthritis?

Hand surgeons continue to look for new and innovative ways of treating these common conditions. Most of the newer options are variations on standard techniques of joint replacements. Some are trying different injection therapies, such as hyaluronic acid and growth factor injections. They show some promising results but are not established as the standard treatment yet due to either high cost or varying results. FBN

Flagstaff Bone and Joint

77 W. Forest Ave., Ste 301

Flagstaff AZ 86001

928-773-2280

Dr. Flint is a fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeon specializing in the treatment of degenerative, over-use and traumatic injuries of the hand, elbow and shoulder.

 
(Picture of Dr. Flint Attached)

Treating Hand Arthritis is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

There’s this thing that I call the Gee-Whiz Syndrome. A possible corruption of the decidedly outdated, “geewhillikins,” or euphemism for “Jesus” expressed as an invective, “gee whiz” is often used nowadays as an adjective to describe the naïve wonder attached to something new or unheard of, like gee-whiz technology, to characterize the latest gadgetry. The syndrome, however, occurs in people who have newly discovered what has actually been around for a long time. It’s cute in the case of toddlers and puppies who get a pass when they express wide-eyed astonishment in the presence of the already-known. It’s less excusable in 20- and 30-somethings who simply haven’t taken the time to do the right kind of research.

Passion & Purpose, by three best and brightest Harvard MBAs, John Coleman, Daniel Gulati, and W. Oliver Segovia, has a good dose of the Gee-Whiz Syndrome in its exuberant celebration of young business leaders and their aspirations. The compendium of stories, advice, and observations by newly minted MBAs examines globalization, sustainability, diversity, and the blurring lines between for profit, nonprofit, and public sectors to explore what young leaders think and what they will face as they forge their futures.

Today’s young leaders, according to the authors, are “passionate and purposeful.” As they grow up, they are seeking business careers that offer “a way of translating a meaningful personal purpose into work that impacts the world in a positive way.” Young people today also recognize the value of global experiences. In a survey conducted by the authors, a majority of MBA student respondents agree that “working in different countries has helped me learn more about myself and what I plan to do in the future.”  The reader also discovers that a defining characteristic of this generation is “that we want to be recognized as individuals – not anonymous cogs forced to think, act, and dress in the same way.” Sound familiar? Gee whiz!

That’s not to say that there isn’t great merit in knowing what tomorrow’s leaders think. The authors provide data from over 500 current and recent MBAs from top business schools, personal stories of 20 young business leaders who have made a difference throughout their careers, and advice from established luminaries in private/public/academic fields. As an inspirational almanac, it works well. It is refreshing and encouraging to read about young people who retain optimism despite the ever-elusive light at the end of the tunnel.  Today’s world is different, in so many ways, than the one that previous generations knew. Shooting for the stars and aspiring to live one’s ideals is never a bad thing. Reading real-life accounts of individuals lucky enough to achieve those goals may be just the prompt a young person needs to dream her own dreams. Advice from seasoned and successful professionals also has value for up-and-comers of any generation.

But are the fresh-faced leaders of today really different? Previous generations have also desired lives of passion and purpose – before the harsh realities of compromise, diminished opportunity, and forced conformity kick in later in life. Young elites have always traveled in pursuit of life-changing experiences. Non-elite youth traveled as well – as migrants, by going off to war, or simply through ingenuity and the many cheap youth hostels dotted across our globe. And even if aging hippies of today seem like preposterous relics of a laughable decade, we can thank their youthful selves for shattering many codes of conformity.

Given that the authors limit their research to today’s young MBAs, and only those fortunate enough to attend the best business schools, it would be interesting to survey the many who are not so fortunate. My suspicion is that they hold the same ideals, but are also painfully aware of the now herculean challenges that stand in their way.

While that might sound discouraging, I, too, have faith in today’s youth and their capacity to transform our world. Young people, elite and poor, Ivy League and uneducated, committed capitalist and dedicated altruist continue to astound. They draw inspiration from each other, teachers, role models, the world around them, and even the books they read to achieve amazing and revolutionary things. That should elicit a “gee-whiz,” even in the face of the harshest realities. FBN

Same Kids, Different World is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

The carotid arteries in your neck supply the brain with blood. The carotid arteries travel up each side of the neck and branch into smaller vessels that supply blood to the brain. Blood flowing through the carotid arteries (carotid pulses) can be felt on each side of the neck next to the windpipe.

Unfortunately, the carotid arteries are a common location for hardening of the artery wall, called atherosclerosis, to occur. If the arteries become clogged, it can result in a stroke. Atherosclerosis is caused by a buildup of plaque – cholesterol, white blood cells, calcium, and other substances – in the walls of the arteries. Over time, plaque narrows the artery, and the artery hardens.

Plaques are covered with a fibrous cap, which may rupture if some trigger causes a surge in blood pressure or causes the artery to constrict. A person may have a heart attack if a plaque breaks open, creating a blood clot that completely blocks blood flow through the artery. Or, plaque in the carotid arteries of the neck may break open and block blood flow to the brain, causing Transient Ischemic Attack (sometimes called “mini-stroke”) or a stroke.

Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) is a temporary interruption of the blood flow to an area of the brain. TIAs are a warning sign that a stroke may soon follow.

Fortunately, in 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of stents – tiny metal tubes – to prop open carotid arteries and reduce the risk of stroke. Carotid artery stenting is similar to coronary angioplasty, which is commonly used to open blocked arteries in the heart. Its use in carotid arteries is growing.

During this procedure, a tube (catheter) is inserted through a large artery – most often the femoral artery in the groin – and threaded through other arteries to the carotid artery. After the catheter reaches the narrowed portion of the carotid artery, a small balloon at the end of the tube is inflated for a short period of time.

The pressure from the inflated balloon presses the plaque against the wall of the artery to improve blood flow. A stent (a metal tube) is placed in the artery to keep the plaque from tearing open and to keep the artery from closing. New crush-resistant stents with filters to catch clots have been developed.

The procedure takes about one hour, and the patient usually is awake during the procedure and feels little pain. Usually, hospitalization is needed for about 24 hours after the procedure, to watch for complications.

Carotid artery stenting may prevent a transient ischemic attack (TIA) and stroke in people who have significant carotid hardening and narrowing (70 percent or more) of the carotid arteries.

A clot in an artery, a drop in blood pressure, or a change in heart rhythm or rate may all reduce blood flow to the brain and result in a TIA. Unlike a stroke, a TIA does not cause lasting symptoms, but is considered a warning sign of an impending stroke. Symptoms usually go away after 10 to 20 minutes. Symptoms of a TIA are similar to those of a stroke and may include:

Vision problems

Difficulty speaking, or unusual behavior and thought processes

Difficulty understanding words

Loss of consciousness

Seizures

Dizziness (vertigo) or trouble walking

Weakness or numbness on one side of the body

To learn more about carotid stenting or to be screened for Atherosclerosis, contact the Heart & Vascular Center of Northern Arizona (HVCNA) at 877-928-WELL. FBN

HVCNA is a partnership between Flagstaff Medical Center and Verde Valley Medical Center. It combines physician office practices with extensive hospital-based services including diagnostic and interventional cardiology procedures and open heart surgery. HVCNA offices are located in Flagstaff, Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Sedona and Winslow. For more information on the Heart & Vascular Center of Northern Arizona, visit NAHeartCare.com.

Dr. Eric Cohen, interventional cardiologist, is the medical director of Peripheral Vascular Intervention at the Heart & Vascular Center of Northern Arizona. Dr. Cohen specializes in vascular care and the treatment of peripheral arterial disease and limb salvage.

Preventing Stroke With a Carotid Artery Stent is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

Our community has demonstrated an economic need and a desire for direct airline service beyond Phoenix. As a result, we have been awarded an $800,000 grant to help us bring in a second air service or have our current airline provide additional destinations out of Flagstaff.

In the two years that Horizon Air served Flagstaff to Los Angeles, the passenger count grew from 44,000 passengers to 65,000 passengers. After the loss of Horizon Air, securing a secondary air service became one of the highest priorities of the Flagstaff City Council. We also found support from a variety of community partners: Flagstaff Forty, the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, the City of Winslow, as well as the Flagstaff Airport Commission and the Flagstaff Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Back in August, our Economic Vitality Division staff submitted the grant application to the Department of Transportation for an $800,000 Small Community Air Service Development Program grant. The new grant was designed to help smaller communities like Flagstaff enhance air service and address issues related to high airfares. The Department of Transportation received 70 grant applications from communities in 34 states. They selected 29 grant proposals, of which 19 were made to communities proposing revenue guarantees and/or marketing support as means to attract new carriers, restore lost service or capacity, and/or provide air travelers with access to additional markets.

All of the selected communities contributed financial resources to the grant projects. Here in Flagstaff, our local contribution is $80,000, which will be used for the purposes of advertising and marketing new routes. The local contributions reflect a commitment that is important to the potential success of the entire DOT grant initiative.

Flagstaff was selected as a first-time grantee because we demonstrated the need for a second air carrier to support our diverse economic needs from business to tourism. We plan to utilize the grant funds to attract a new air service provider through a revenue guarantee to provide air service from Flagstaff to the West Coast and/or Eastern markets. The grant will assist in alleviating the costs associated with the start-up of a new air service provider. Flagstaff Pulliam Airport and its community partners believe that the presence of one airline and one direct destination is insufficient to meet the needs of the traveling public, including business travelers, educational institutions, residents, visitors, and other Northern Arizona agencies whose access to the national air transportation system is limited.

We approved this grant award in October. City staff is currently meeting with interested airlines and developing a Request for Proposal to be released in early 2012. FBN

Flagstaff Pulliam Airport Receiving Grant is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

Modern retirement is riddled with uncertainty and is much riskier than it was decades ago when there were many safeguards and veritable guarantees in place. The burden of assuring a suitable retirement nest egg has shifted from employers and the government to individual retirees. Even with this now common knowledge, far too many have still not adapted to the changes and find them self ill-equipped or, worse, entirely unable to retire when desired.

In fact, most Americans actually admit to being unprepared.  The 2010 Wells Fargo Retirement Fitness Survey found that nearly three-quarters of respondents (72%) don’t have any idea how much they will be able to spend or on what, and fully 67% don’t have a written plan related to their life expectancy or in determining how long their savings will need to last. Scarier yet, a Harris Poll found that over a third of Americans have no retirement savings whatsoever.  With over 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 each day, throngs of those in or approaching retirement have their proverbial head in the sand and are heading into a financial disaster – with implications for the economy at large.

While retirees are subject to a multitude of risk factors beyond their control, there are many ways to better assure a prosperous, secure and joyful second half of life.  But you have to get your head in the game! Today, successful retirement requires a proactive, take charge approach with realistic planning and a road map for creating financial and emotional well-being. As risks have increased over the years, a myriad of tools and resources have also come about to help us realize better results with less stress. Retirement should be anticipated with joy, not fear.

Here Valentine offers Retirement Mindset Makeover tips and tools to foster productive planning:

• Vision is vital.  While economists and political pundits continue to ponder why Americans under-save for retirement, psychologists may have found an answer. Psychologist Dan Ariely describes some of our current financial tools, such as retirement calculators, as a product design failure. When a number comes out of this calculator, Ariely says, “it does not help us imagine what it would be like to live to a hundred if we have very little in our savings accounts by the age of seventy… it does not translate into anything that we can visualize or comprehend, and in doing so it also doesn’t motivate us to try harder to save more.” The reason people can spend months planning a wedding or weeks planning a vacation is that they have an appealing vision, an anticipation for what’s to come, and the motivation to follow through with the planning. As long as our perception of retirement as “declining years” persists, there is little motivation to plan or look forward to it. By envisioning and mapping out an appealing lifestyle before you get to the retirement calculator, and it will motivate you to invest in your prosperity as well as your physical and emotional health. In fact, a Yale University study found that a positive image of old age may add, on average, 7 ½ years to one’s life span!

• Alleviate angst with automation.  Some of the classic tools recommended by financial planning professionals, such as making a detailed budget, do not take into account the level of stress that can result from using them. No one disputes what needs to be done; rather, it’s the approach itself that can feel uncomfortable for some people. Today, there are a myriad of automated tools and techniques that simplify such processes, including automatic savings and automatic expense tracking that can alleviate this pressure. Remember that financial tools should help you gain control and confidence to decrease stress, rather than produce anxiety. So, spend the time to identify and set up tech-driven systems that work for you. 

• Fuel your own fire.  Research on motivation by University of Rochester Professors Ryan & Deci showed that “self-motivation, rather than external (or extrinsic) motivation, is at the heart of creativity, responsibility, healthy behavior and lasting change.” With this in mind, working toward a happy, healthy and successful retirement requires self-initiated, authentic actions versus those you are undertaking to appease others. New tools consistent with this understanding are available to provide support and help you achieve such self-directed goals. Seek and leverage any help you can get when motivating yourself to live well.

• Design your destination.  Research proves that a successful, happy retirement is impossible without planning based on self-examination. Indeed, a Dartmouth University study found that people who plan end up with twice the wealth of people who do not. Beyond financial planning, it is imperative to take time to figure out what lifestyle needs must be fulfilled to make you happy, and then find specific ways to ensure those needs can be met. Retirement lifestyle design then becomes the driver for making good choices and building the foundation of physical, emotional and financial health that ensures joy and fulfillment after fifty.

• Knowledge is power.  The 2010 Wells Fargo Retirement Fitness Survey also found that the typical American is not knowledgeable about health care costs, life expectancy, income needs, inflation and other risks. Understandably, this lack of clarity creates apprehension and distress. Now is the time to take control and start creating the senior lifestyle you want.  To ease and expedite the process, take advantage of specialized resources that are readily available. For example, regional events like Ideal Living Resort & Retirement Expos provide convenient, one-stop access to a myriad of retirement solutions. These valuable Expos help retirees explore their comprehensive options, gain insights, make comparisons, and create a realistic blueprint for retirement.

Retire­ment is the time when you have already fulfilled your obligations to others in life and are now free to make some new choices with yourself as the priority,” Valentine concludes. “With proper preparation and forethought, you can realize your full potential and enjoy an astonishing quality of life in retirement that may include working, mentoring, volunteering, traveling, learning and anything else that helps you feel secure, joyful, independent, valuable and carefree.

Speaker and JoyCompass.com founder Julia Valentine is the author of ‘Joy Compass: How to Make Your Retirement the Treasure of Your Life.’ Through cutting edge research in finance, motivation and creativity, JoyCompass.com offers a revolutionary new approach to preparing for, designing and enjoying life in retirement. Julia may be reached online at www.JoyCompass.com.

Reinventing Retirement–A Mindset Makeover is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper