For many, retirement isn’t right around the corner as they had previously thought.  Many baby boomers at the age of 65 have determined that they better continue to work because their retirement has shrunk. 

Kathy Corrigan a 64-year-old lost her job last year.  She had already been thinking about retirement after a 25 year career,  but when she sat down and looked at her savings, she realized she took a 30 percent hit since the market meltdown.

Many Americans just like Kathy have crunched the numbers and understand that because retirement savings have disappeared, pension funds are being squeezed and social security has endless problems, they will not be retiring to a post-career of leisure.

Despite the fact that many want to retire, a recent survey in April by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that 53 percent of American workers have put away less than $25,000 in retirement savings and investments.  Some 20 percent reported that they had saved less than $1,000.  However, these figures are not including home equity, and the value of their pension plans.

Many Americans do not very much saved up, but this is partly due to the fact that many 401(k) investors between 56 and 65 had 
90 percent of their savings in stocks at the end of 2007.  Needless to say, a significant chunk of their 401(k) is now gone.  Now these Americans are trying to save more money; in order to cover rising living expenses, and increased longevity.

If we knew how long we were going to live then we would know how much money we need to save. Since more workers are going to keep 
working past 65, the income helps pay for the extras in life.  Many older workers have their homes paid for, families raised, and they can live comfortably on a lower salary.

The moral of the story is, make sure you start saving at a young age.  Start making monthly payments into a retirement or savings account.  You never know how long you will live or what condition you may be in so be prepared for large medical expenses as well, and make sure your house is paid off before retirement.  Be prepared for retirement and whatever else life throws at you. 
 

An American man was charged with giving Al-Qaeda information about the New York transit system and attacking a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.  Since his arrest, he has helped the U.S. in a secret fight against terror on both a domestic and international level. 

The federal court unsealed papers that identified Bryant Neal Vinas as the defendant.  He is a native of Long Island and in January, plead guilty in a sealed Brooklyn courtroom. Federal prosecutors refused to give out information about the case but said that Vinas had provided critical information that led to a security alert about the subway system last year.

The FBI had received a report that Al-Qaeda terrorists may have considered attacking the system during the holidays.  The origin of that report was Vinas.  Vinas was also held responsible for a rocket attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in September 2008.  Vinas was arrested in Peshawar, Pakistan, in November.  He had reportedly been in Pakistan for five months where he had received "military-style-training" from Al-Qaeda.

Thankfully in instances such as this, America has hard working individuals that keep America safe.  Individuals interested in protecting America from threats, attacks, and reducing America’s vulnerability should start working on a degree today.  There are degrees out there that provide students with the knowledge and skills required to work in this exciting and dangerous field of Homeland Security.

Airman 1st Class Colton Read went in for surgery to remove his gallbladder.  Several weeks later, the gallbladder has still not been removed, but now parts of both legs have been amputated.

This man went in for a laparoscopic gallbladder removal on July 9.  During the procedure, a surgeon accidentally nicked or punctured his aorta; the main artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body.  The surgeon was able to repair the leak enough to save his life, but the aorta began leaking and disrupted the blood supply to his legs.

Read was flown from Travis Air Force Base to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento where doctors told family that the damage was from a lack of blood.  The damage was permanent and parts of Travis’ leg needed to be removed.  Since then, Travis has been through 10 surgeries to remove dead tissue from his legs.

Officials at Travis Air Force Bases are investigating the "serious medical incident."  The case is under investigation by the base, a national hospital accrediting commission and the U.S. surgeon general.

This case is devastating, but unfortunately there are thousands of cases where routine surgeries go terribly wrong.  There are both good and bad doctors out there so make sure to really check out your doctor and get a feel for who they really are. 

One of the problems not only with doctors, or medical schools but in every school is cheating.  Cheating is a huge problem that affects not only k-12 education, but also in higher education.

There are lots of ways students can cheat but still get a degree without knowing anything.  Can you think of anything more frightening than ending up on the operating table with an inexperienced and unknowledgeable doctor?

Cheating can have dire consequences, especially in the medical field.  If you are putting your life in someone else’s hands you want to know that they did more than successfully cheat on a test.  Patients want to know that their doctor worked really hard and that they are knowledgeable and well-qualified.