5 Takeaways From the President’s Muscle-Flexing SOTU

A president clearly buoyed by climbing approval ratings claimed his economic successes, told Republicans to get out of his way and mapped out an aggressive agenda for the next two years.

In his next-to-last State of the Union, a revived and unmistakably ultradefiant President Barack Obama let loose a post-midterm-election liberation song on a chamber of fattened Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

Even with the somewhat humbled plea for “better politics” by the end of an hourlong speech, seemingly dire political realities were ignored for the night. There was little hint of scuttled legislative opportunities over the next two years. Instead, the president presented an ambitious populist remix, a “middle class economics” lyric and legacy counteraction to Reagan’s “trickle-down economics” that left congressional Republicans seething well after a flat, but pulled-it-off, response by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

The president of the United States flexed. Free community college. A long-sought-after solid on child care. Individual tax cuts. Guaranteed health care. Higher wages and seven days of paid sick leave. This was, indeed, the we-can-get-with-that speech.

Nothing that sounded too good to be politically true appeared to be left out. A colorful, almost utopic, progressive goodie bag of essential items for middle-class entry and existence. Eager to “turn the page,” Obama set the tone for two interlocked goals: pushing a robust postrecession recovery that complements foundations for a post-war boom. “We are 15 years into this new century,” the president opened almost sermonlike. “Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores; that unfolded with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. It has been, and still is, a hard time for many.”

Somehow, Obama managed to deliver a strikingly hopeful gas-prices-are-down, jobs-are-up address we could pretty much smile about. While not sure how he’ll top this speech with what will be his highly anticipated last State of the Union in 2016, we sure got a confident Hawaiian Punch-ful of classic President Obama swagger to last us well into expected knuckle-ups with Republicans. In the meantime, here are five big-hit takeaways from last night’s State of the Union in case you missed it:

“The 2014 midterms? I had nothing to do with that.” If observers were still wondering what would happen to President Obama in the aftermath of crash-and-burn congressional midterms for Democrats, this SOTU—propped up by two full months of surprise announcements on immigration, Cuba and climate change—ripped through rumors of any early, lame-duck demise. And, really, that’s what this speech was all about: reminding us that 2014 wasn’t his election. Annoyed by noisy laughs and claps from Republicans when he said “I have no more campaigns to run,” Obama boomed back in ad-libbed sarcastic glory: “I know, because I won both of them.”

So, 2014? That’s something for congressional Democrats to worry about. They didn’t want him on the campaign trail, anyway. And shade on the low-turnout rest of you who voted for the wrong folks. So, look at me now, says the president. I’m polling near 50 percent and running circles around you while at it.

This was an incredibly middle-class speech. If there’s one place the president wants you to be, it’s in the middle class: He mentioned it about seven times. While the prognosticating jury is still out on the awkwardly cobbled phrase “middle-class economics,” this SOTU scored new points on the political board as it laid out a vision for new American prosperity in the post-war, post-recession era. “[It’s] the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, everyone plays by the same set of rules,” said the president, pulling from old rhetorical beats used countless times over the campaign stump.

But if you’re poor …. Not that he doesn’t care about the poor, but he sure didn’t mention it during his cheery we-got-jobs assessment. “Poverty” was mentioned once—but only in the context of global challenges rather than street-side woes here at home. And “low income” got a nod, but not without middle class in the same sentence.

We get it: The White House won’t throw ice buckets on a revved-up-economy message when it’s resonating so well with folks on Main Street. The president won’t talk about depressed incomes or the growth of mostly part-time and low-wage jobs or a persistently high poverty rate. You can’t inspire a nation with that kind of language. But the president definitely doesn’t want anybody stuck there, hence an attractive middle-class-entry fix-it kit of higher wages, free community college and enhanced child care that the poor and dispossessed can use too.

“War? Not my thing.” Just as hard is an upbeat, “crisis-has-passed” follow-up to restore confidence at home while folks are gripped with jitters over conflict zones abroad. Obviously, he can’t have Pharrell lay a “Happy Song” White House cut on it—the Islamic State group keeps him reaching for Tums at night; old-school hawks in Congress keep throwing heat on a historic deal with Iran; and Russian President Vladimir Putin just doesn’t know when to give up, even when his economy is crumbling in the face of Obama-imposed sanctions.

Which made this part of the State of the Union particularly tough and, arguably, unconvincing on some levels. There’s sharp, renewed interest and worry on foreign policy, but this speech seemed eager to simply squish this in the middle because it had to—and only because some show of force on topics like the Islamic State group and attacks in Paris gives the president a little wiggle room with normally uncooperative Republicans.

Taking the political map—and conquering it. In a new, very Republican Congress, red-state faithful are convinced they’ve got what it takes to retake the White House in 2016.

But not so fast. This State of the Union was a glaring reminder that Obama likes to play long game—and play it well. He’s probably not going anywhere and he wants to dominate the entire political map while at it. In the meantime, he’s finding strength in a national-issues campaign through all the upcoming policy thick and thin. States like New York, California, Colorado, Texas and West Virginia were name-dropped like political Morse code for future battlegrounds. “I’ve watched Americans beat back adversity from the Gulf Coast to the Great Plains; from Midwest assembly lines to the mid-Atlantic seaboard,” said the president.

There was lots of candy for the middle-class, public vouches for veterans and outreach to white female voters who strayed from the Democratic fold. While it wasn’t anything for #BlackLivesMatter to scream about, the speech fit in needed nods to voting rights, Ferguson and criminal justice, along with hints on police and community relations. Everyone under the demographic sun got something, if not everything he or she wanted, with the president clearly loading bases for the next Democratic presidential nominee up for bat.

Charles D. Ellison is a veteran political strategist and regular contributor to The Root. He is also Washington correspondent for the Philadelphia Tribune and chief political correspondent for Uptown magazine. Follow him on Twitter.

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http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2015/01/_5_takeaways_from_the_president_s_muscle_flexing_sotu.html

VH1 buries rest of ‘Sorority Sisters’ episodes Friday, January 16

VH1 has finally said no mas to its detractors: the remaining three episodes of Atlanta-based “Sorority Sisters” are being burned off three in a row this Friday night.

How badly does VH1 want to put this show into the grave? The final episode will start at the odd time of 11:10 p.m. and end just past midnight. Plus, it’s not even being repeated later that night for West Coast consumption.  And Friday tends to be a relatively low TV consumption night.

This doesn’t mean the show has been officially cancelled. VH1 rarely makes such announcements when a show is killed anyway, but no network with any intention of bringing a show back would make a move like this. It’s not a stretch to say it’s over for “Sorority Sisters.”

“Sorority Sisters” has been attacked for denigrating the history of African-American sororities by tying these well-regarded Greek names to the silly stereotypical drama that is part and parcel of many of VH1’s reality shows. The formula is now well worn: cattiness, jealousy, name-calling with the occasional fist thrown for good measure.

Two members of Alpha Kappa Alpha were suspended last week for more than two years for participating on the show.

Last summer, when a trailer of a version of “Sorority Sisters” leaked out, critics tried to stop the show before it even aired, sending protest notes to VH1 and a petition online.

But VH1 taped an entire season, then quietly announced the debut air date four days before the actual debut, the shortest promotional window I’ve ever seen for a TV show. When I wrote about it Dec. 11, I wondered if the VH1 executives really had any faith in the show. Why bother airing any show with almost no lead time?

Then the crap really hit the fan. Social media was brutal when the show debuted Monday Dec. 15.

In an essay Dec. 18, my colleague Ernie Suggs wrote, “This show is doing everything in its power to destroy the legacies that these sororities have been building for more than 100 years. And it offends me.” Former Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson’s daughter in law weighed in soon after, saying she was “outraged by the exploitation of our sisterhood.”

VH1 for a time held fort. It even aired a special last week where the ladies on the show defended themselves, saying their critics were lobbing death threats at them.

Ratings for “Sorority Sisters” on Monday nights weren’t bad, averaging about 1.2 million, though it did benefit from a strong lead in (“Love and Hip Hop”).

The problem ultimately wasn’t viewers. It was advertisers. The Greek organizations successfully pressured many advertisers to request they not show up on the program. That is probably what is forcing VH1’s hand: money. Or lack thereof.

(I haven’t reached anybody at VH1 yet for comment though I doubt the network will say much of anything beyond a vanilla statement.)

VH1 over the years has endured plenty of bad publicity and equally bad juju over its edgier shows (e.g. “Flavor of Love,” “Love and Hip Hop,” “Basketball Wives,” “Mob Wives,” et. al).

But if advertisers aren’t willing to support a show, it will die. That’s economics, pure and simple.

http://radiotvtalk.blog.ajc.com/2015/01/13/vh1-buries-rest-of-sorority-sisters-episodes-friday-january-16/

Netflix, Priceline Set To Be Among Most Volatile Stocks This Earnings Season

If you’re a Netflix NFLX +1.53% investor, you know the stock has been on a wild ride over the years. Particularly around earnings season.

As the internet streaming service celebrates its recent Golden Globe award for House of Cards, investors should brace themselves for some volatility following next week’s fourth-quarter earnings report. In the past, the stock has skyrocketed or plummeted by an average of 14% following earnings news, according to Bespoke Investment Group, making it one of the most volatile stocks in the period immediately following an earnings report.

Lately, the yo-yo volatility has been of the negative persuasion.

Shares dropped 25% following last quarter’s earnings, losing $110, despite strong growth in its top and bottom line. The culprit: Lower-than-expected subscriber growth, following a $1 bump in the monthly subscription cost.

“As best we can tell, the primary cause is the slightly higher prices we now have compared to a year ago,” wrote CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells in a letter to shareholders, seeking to explain how their own guidance missed the mark by over half a million subscribers.

It was an “ugly quarter” with “little to like,” wrote Janney Capital Markets analyst Tony Wible in a note, also focusing on weak subscription growth and calling the company’s ability (or inability) to raise prices troubling.

Yet, the negativity sparked by this fourth quarter earnings report has been similarly matched by enthusiasm. A year ago, shares soared upwards of 16% on the heels of first-quarter earnings that came in at $112.4 million, crushing Wall Street expectations of $103.4 million.

Netflix, which trades down from $400+ lows at $319, returned 297.6% in 2013 but lost 7.2% in 2014.

Other stocks that have a history of wild price swings after they report earnings, according to Bespoke: Priceline, Keurig Green Mountain GMCR -2.17% and Pandora.

Priceline, which trades at over $1,000 per share, still moves an average of 12.06% after an earnings report. Last quarter, the stock fell 8.5% following a soft profit forecast for Europe, even though it beat the Street’s earnings estimates.

Keurig, which moves 12.99% on average following an earnings report, has soared 67% over the past year as it navigates away from single-serve coffee (its K-cup patents expired in 2012) and forges ahead with new partnership deals and efforts to diversify. Investors are watching closely. Shares rose 53% in the two weeks after it landed a partnership with Coca-Cola and announced plans for a cold, carbonated beverage system. Other big-name partners include Subway, Nestle and most recently, Dr. Pepper.

Pandora — which moves 12.39% on average post-earnings — fell nearly 10% last quarter after investors responded to indications that the company’s explosive growth was slowing. But while the streaming music service attracted fewer listeners and saw them spend fewer hours listening, it still posted a 42% revenue increase and top and bottom line figures that beat the Street.

Groupon is the most volatile, experiencing 18% swings on average after reporting earnings. Yet fluctuations are more pronounced given that its current share price is just $7.42, down 32% over the last 12 months.

Where is there less action? The utilities sector. When companies like Kinder Morgan and ITC Holdings report earnings, their stocks remain virtually unchanged, ticking up or down roughly 1%.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/2015/01/13/netflix-priceline-set-to-be-among-most-volatile-stocks-this-earnings-season/

Xbox One’s February System Update to Add Game Hubs

http://www.ign.com/videos/2014/12/22/25-big-xbox-games-of-2015

Microsoft has revealed its February update for Xbox One includes an option for tile transparency, along with Game Hub pages.

The update is available now to those in the dashboard beta, but will roll out to the masses early next month. In terms of what it’s bringing with it, a new tile transparency option will enable you to decide just how much of your console’s custom backgrounds you want to be able to see.

The biggest addition, however, is that of Game Hubs – new pages where your progression stats, Achievements, DLC details, leaderboards and Twitch videos for a given title are collated from your friends and the wider gaming community.

Other new features include the addition of a trending TV show tab that you can use to see what those with cable TV or the console’s TV Tuner are watching, as well as the option to stream live TV to both Windows Phone and Android if you have one of the Tuners. There’s also said to be improvements to how the console works with newer TV models.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/01/14/xbox-ones-february-system-update-to-add-game-hubs?utm_campaign=ign+main+twitter&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

The Quickest Way to Stop Sweating After a Workout

These tips will help you rejoin society drip-free after a hard training session

You don’t mind that your workout made you sweat buckets. That was the whole point, after all. But the seemingly never-ending perspiration afterward is super annoying. No one wants to be the sticky guy on the bus, in the conference room, or at happy hour.

Exercise raises your temperature, so your body produces sweat to cool you down, says Ollie Jay, Ph.D., a thermal physiologist at the University of Sydney. But it’s the evaporation of sweat—not the act of sweating itself—that ultimately cools you down, he says. So in order to quickly stop sweating after a workout, you need to do two things: lower your temperature and aid evaporation. Luckily, doing both of these things isn’t difficult. Just follow these 4 steps to chill out and leave the sweat puddles at the gym.

STEP 1: Add ice

Skip the lukewarm water fountain. People who drank ice-cold water while exercising perspired less than people who drank warmer water, according to a recent University of Ottawa study. Thermoreceptors in your abdomen, which are neurons that detect changes in temperature, help your brain regulate sweat output, researchers found. When ice water hits your stomach, your thermoreceptors tell your brain to decrease your sweat. Guzzle the fluid during and after your gym session to chill your body from the inside out, says Jordan D. Metzl, M.D., Men’s Health‘s sports medicine advisor.

STEP 2: Find a fan

Ever notice that it seems like you sweat more after a workout than during it? That’s because wind or air flow on your skin helps accelerate the evaporation of your sweat, Jay says. But when you stop moving, the sweat accumulates.

Stand in front of an AC vent or fan in the locker room while you rehydrate. It’s best if you’re shirtless since clothing can be a barrier for evaporation. If there’s no fan or vent available, use a hair dryer set on cool. Whatever you do, though, don’t fan yourself. Moving your arms will just make your body produce even more heat, Jay says.

STEP 3: Take a soak 

Now that you’ve slowed down the sweating, you can take a shower—just make sure it’s a cold one, Dr. Metzl says. The chilly water on your skin helps lower your core body temperature even further, he says, reducing your body’s need to sweat more.

STEP 4: Add more ice

Still dripping? Deploy this last strategy: Apply an ice pack, an ice-cold water bottle, or a frozen towel, to the back of your neck, your underarms, and your groin until the sweat finally stops. You have large arteries that are close to the skin in these areas, so putting ice directly on them is a sure-fire way to lower your core temperature, explains Jay.

http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/stop-sweating-after-exercise?adbid=555311389380583424&adbpl=tw&adbpr=25093616&cid=socFit_20150114_38729087

Apple sues Ericsson over LTE wireless telecom patents

(Reuters) – Apple Inc (AAPL.O) sued Ericsson (ERICb.ST) alleging that the Swedish company’s LTE wireless technology patents are not essential to industry cellular standards and that it is demanding excessive royalties for these patents.

The iPhone maker said it has not infringed on the patents and does not owe royalties for them.

Apple says that the mobile telecoms gear maker is seeking royalties for the LTE technology calculated as a percentage of the price of the entire smartphone or tablet.

The royalties should be based on the value of the processor chip that includes the technology, Apple said in the lawsuit filed in a federal court in California.

If Ericsson’s patents are deemed essential and the court rules Apple has infringed on them, Apple said it wants the court to assign a reasonable royalty rate.

“We’ve always been willing to pay a fair price to secure the rights to standards essential patents covering technology in our products. Unfortunately, we have not been able to agree with Ericsson on a fair rate for their patents so, as a last resort, we are asking the courts for help,” said Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet.

Apple and Ericsson currently have a license agreement that covers many of Ericsson’s allegedly standard-essential patents. The agreement was signed in 2008 soon after Apple launched the iPhone, according to the court filing.

Representatives at Ericsson were not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.

The case is in the U.S. District Court of Northern District of California, Apple Inc v. Ericsson, case no: CV-15-0154.

(Reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bengaluru and Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/14/us-apple-patent-ericsson-idUSKBN0KN0B820150114?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter

Retirement: What the new Congress has in store

A new Congress is in session, and a big question is this: Exactly what do they have in store for older Americans and retirees?

Are changes to Social Security and Medicare on the table, as some activists wonder? And, are changes in store for the tax advantages of our retirement savings accounts, like IRAs and 401(k)s?

There are a wide range of opinions on whether there would be changes — even slight — to Social Security and Medicare. There is more of a consensus that some tax breaks on retirement accounts, mainly affecting higher-income Americans, may be susceptible to cuts.

“I don’t think it’s a concern for current retirees — those in pre-retirement or already collecting,” says author, CPA and retirement expert Ed Slott, who hosts Ed Slott’s Retirement Roadmap on PBS. “Those people vote. Those entities will not be touched. They will talk about it. They will just trim around the edges. It’s like a third rail — nobody wants to touch that.

“The Millennials, people in their 30s and 40s, they may see something scaled back,” he says. “Social Security was never meant as the sole source of retirement income. You will have to rely on your own savings and your own retirement account. It was always meant as a supplement.”

“For younger people, I would plan on saving without it,” he says. “Benefits are going to have to be curtailed, but not for many years.”

Rich Fiesta, executive director of The Alliance for Retired Americans, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, says he is very concerned about Social Security.

“We’re very concerned on Social Security after the action the House took on the first day,” says Fiesta. “They are arbitrarily changing the rules that handcuffs Social Security in terms of the ability to move funds between the retirement trust fund and the disability trust fund, which has been done 11 times in the history of the program. This last-minute rule change puts the Social Security system as a whole in jeopardy and could subject it to potential benefit cuts over the next two years.”

Kristine Aretha, consultant with M&O Marketing in Southfield, Mich., says she expects Congress to target retirement accounts and life insurance to some degree.

“Congress passed a $1.1 trillion budget,” she says. “We have $18 trillion in debt. We have approximately $18.2 trillion sitting in retirement accounts. When we start connecting the dots, those vehicles are low-hanging fruit — easy for them to come after.”

“They will do slow increments on those kinds of things and slowly peck away,” she says. “In one form or another, since 2013, they’ve tried to attack these vehicles knowing the amount of money sitting there. The saddest part is that the retirement account and insurance are what protect mainstream America — their constituents. It’s the one way they can build and transfer wealth. So, I hate to see Congress take it away.”

And like Slott, she says she thinks Social Security is safe. “They may tweak it a bit, but I don’t think they will take it away,” Aretha says.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the new chairwoman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, says she has three primary goals for this term: retirement security, increasing research for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes and protecting seniors against fraud and scams.

She says she is worried about the solvency of Social Security in the long term, but the disability fund in the short term has a “terrible prognosis. I don’t pretend to have an answer.

“I would like to see, in an ideal world, an increase in minimum benefits so that if you work your entire life, you don’t retire in poverty. We also need to take a look at the number of people taking early retirement. That’s expensive for the system, but it also makes people less secure in their older years because the benefit is much lower if you take early retirement.”

What financial planners and advocates believe may be on the agenda for Congress:

• Stretch IRAs. A stretch IRA is not a type of Individual Retirement Account, but rather it is a feature used in estate planning. In effect, a parent dies and leaves his or her IRA to a child or grandchild; they would inherit many of the tax features. In other words, they can keep the money in the account and not pay taxes until it is withdrawn.

“The beneficiary can take it and stretch the distributions over his or her lifetime. Congress was never thrilled with that. It was meant for your own retirement, not to benefit your children or grandchildren. I think that will be on the chopping block.”

Anthony LoCascio, financial planner with LoCascio Consulting in Clinton, N.J., agrees the stretch IRA will be a target. He believes Congress will force beneficiaries of inherited IRAs to take distributions — and more importantly pay the taxes — either immediately or within five years.

 • Retirement benefits. “With the number of Baby Boomers — there are 10,000 to 15,000 turning 65 every day for the next 15 years — we will have a strain on Social Security retirement benefits,” says LoCascio. “You will have to do something to adjust for the onslaught of recipients. By 2020 or 2025 there will be more people retired than working. You only have so much money. They will have to make adjustments. And one way would be by increasing the retirement age.”

Collins says Social Security is a key part of income for many retirees. “Nationally, one in four retired Americans has no source of income beyond Social Security,” she says. “In Maine, the number is one in three. While Social Security provides an important safety net, with an average benefit of just $16,000 a year, it is hardly enough to finance a comfortable retirement.”

• Capping retirement accounts. A General Accounting Office report released last year estimated that 9,000 people had IRA balances of $5 million or more, resulting in talk in Congress to limit the amount you can save in a retirement account.

When the report was released last year, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., then-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said the savings incentives in the tax code were not reaching the people who needed them the most. “You want people to be successful, but the IRA was intended for the typical person,” he said at the time. “The typical person is light years away from saving that amount.”

“It (capping retirement accounts) comes up every year, but it is not popular,” says Slott. “Most people don’t have $4 million in their IRA.”

• Programs that target older Americans. “We’re worried about funding for programs that seniors use a lot,” says Fiesta. “America’s getting older. The population is aging. There are a number of programs under the Older Americans Act, like Meals on Wheels, that we already think lack adequate funding.”

“I think Congress will have a long road,” says LoCascio. “These things are on the table. What they will do about it, I don’t know.”

“We are on guard and watching this Congress,” says Fiesta.

McDonald’s Is Bringing Back Books to Happy Meals (Spoiler: No Dr. Seuss)

Care for some light reading with your nuggets?

In place of the toy cars, stuffed animals and the occasional mini Furbie, McDonald’s Happy Meals will come with books until Jan. 22, The Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The fast food giant teamed up with publisher Harper Collins and nonprofit organization Reading is Fundamental for the book giveaway, which began Jan. 9.

During the two weeks, the companies plans to distribute 17 million copies of four books: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond; Big Nate: In a Class by Himself by Lincoln Peirce; Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses by Kimberly and James Dean and Flat Stanley Goes Camping by Jeff Brown, illustrated by Macky Pamintuan.

No One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, unfortunately.

“This is the latest step in our ongoing efforts to enrich the lives of families, and part of a broader book strategy to combine the fun of the Happy Meal and support of our partners to inspire more family reading time,” said Julie Wenger, senior director of U.S. marketing at McDonald’s.

The last time books popped up on the U.S.’s Happy Meal menu was in Nov. 2013, when an estimated 20 million children’s books were to be distributed and, unlike this year, all the titles were created specifically for McDonald’s.

http://greatideas.people.com/2015/01/13/mcdonalds-happy-meal-books/?xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag

Retirement: Is the 4% rule still relevant?

For the last 20 years there has been a steadily consistent rule of thumb by America’s financial planners when it comes to retirement — the 4% rule.

And what exactly is the 4% rule?

In short, it’s a guideline that helps retirees determine how much money they should take from their nest egg each year. The goal is to help make sure the money lasts.

In other words, if you adhere to the rule and have a nest egg of $500,000, you should limit your withdrawals for living expenses to 4%, or $20,000 a year.

So, the big question is, after 20 years, is the rule still relevant? Most planners interviewed say yes — but only as a rule of thumb, and certainly not for everyone.

“First of all, there is a misconception,” says Matthew Sadowsky, director of retirement and annuities for TD Ameritrade. “It is a rule of thumb, not a law. It is often misunderstood. In its purest form, if you withdraw 4% and grow with inflation, your portfolio should not run out for 30 years. It does not mean you will not run out of money.”

“It’s a good general guideline,” says Dan McElwee, executive vice president at CFP Ventura Wealth Management in Princeton, N.J. “It doesn’t work for everyone. “They have to sit down, look at their situation, and say, ‘Does this make sense?'”

“Is it still valid?” asks Sadowsky. “If you believe the future looks like the past. The less comfort or certainty you have that the future looks like the past, the less confidence you can have in the 4% rule.”

Stephen DeCesare, president of DeCesare Retirement Specialists in Marlton, N.J., says he still recommends the rule. “I think it is a good starting point. It was well researched 20 years ago. And it addresses one of the most important things in retirement planning — the risk of losing out to inflation.”

Still, DeCesare says, while it’s good as a rule of thumb, “Each person’s plan is specific. I’m still recommending it as a good starting point,” he says. “It does address inflation.”

A key to making the rule work, says McElwee, is that people have to be honest with themselves. “I can’t tell you how many meetings we ask clients, ‘How much did you withdraw?’ They say 4%. I do a calculation, and it’s 7% or 8%. They bought a new car, did something for the kids. Sometimes is OK — the next year they can withdraw 2%.”

“Some can do it by themselves,” McElwee says. “Some need to do it with a professional. I do believe withdrawal rates need to be monitored continuously during retirement. It’s not something you just set up once and not look at again.”

Dan Keady, senior director of planning at TIAA-CREF, says his biggest objection is calling it a rule. And there are several things that are dramatically different today from what they were 20 years ago — primarily among them, interest rates.

“If someone was earning 1% and they withdraw 4%, it would be depleted rapidly,” he says. The rule needs to be a guide. People still need to figure out their non-discretionary expenses, subtract Social Security and cover the difference by putting a portion of their assets into an annuity.

“We would say 4% is a reasonable withdrawal rate, but you should monitor values over time and course-correct based on what actually happens,” Keady says. “If someone was taking 4% and their assets were depleting faster, they need to cut back. If things are going well, they can give a bigger boost. It is not a rule. It is a guidepost for people to look at.”

Marcy Keckler, vice president of financial advice strategy at Ameriprise Financial, agrees that the rule is a great starting point.

“It’s something you want to apply judgment to on a case-by-case basis,” she says. “If someone has the good fortune of having pension income they can count on and having Social Security and potentially other sources of income, they may be in the fortunate situation where the majority of their living expenses are covered by income already coming in. They can think of withdrawals from their portfolios for fun stuff. They may be able to go higher (than 4%).”

You must also consider how the markets have performed, she says. “If you have experienced substantial losses, it may be time to dial down withdrawals. If your portfolio has performed well, it might be a year you can withdraw a little more.”

The key, she says, is to tailor your withdrawals to your personal situation as well as your recent portfolio performance.

One financial expert who doesn’t think the rule is still relevant is David John, senior strategic policy adviser with the AARP Public Policy Institute.

One analysis showed a fair number of times that it had failed — or when the account ran out before it was supposed to, he says.

“Like all good rules of thumb, it applies when times are good, but doesn’t meet today’s realities,” he says. “The low-interest-rate environment we’ve got right now means the fixed-income (part of the portfolio) is unlikely to come anywhere close to a 4% return,” he says. And, he says, stock market volatility makes it dangerous to assume that the equity portion of your portfolio would make up the difference on a consistent basis.

He says he prefers a 3% rule, or better, watching your withdrawals and timing them to the better market returns. And he says the problem with any retirement is you don’t know how long it will last.

For that reason, he says, if you have the resources, he recommends a longevity annuity, one that kicks in after a certain age.

“A longevity annuity guarantees you won’t run out of money towards the end,” he says.

There are exceptions to the rule, says Tim Courtney, chief investment officer at Exencial Wealth Advisors in Oklahoma City. “I would say that retiring in your 50s would lead you to begin with a withdrawal rate much lower than 4%, probably closer to 3%.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/brooks/2014/12/30/retirement-401k-pension/20774021/

First ‘Charlie Hebdo’ issue since Paris attacks appears to sell out

The first edition of Charlie Hebdo since the terror attacks in Paris last week that left 17 people dead appeared to sell out at newsstands across France within minutes of going on sale Wednesday, according to reports.

Copies of Charlie Hebdo‘s defiant new issue were running low just a few minutes after being made available at kiosks across the country, according to Agence France-Press and the Associated Press. The AP said it witnessed scuffles as people realized that copies were selling quickly.

Wednesday’s issue of the satirical newspaper features a cartoon on its cover depicting the Prophet Muhammad. He is crying and holding a sign in his hands that says, “Je suis Charle” (“I am Charlie”) — a reference to the slogan adopted by anti-violence and free speech campaigners in the wake of the attacks. It is forbidden under Islam to show images depicting the prophet.

Three million copies have been printed — 60,000 are usually published— and the print run may be extended. It has been translated into six languages and is being distributed internationally for the first time.

A week ago, gunmen linked to radical Islam murdered eight staff members at the magazine along with four other people. Four more people were killed in separate attacks on a policewomen and at a kosher supermarket.

The publication of Charlie Hebdo‘s controversial cover comes as France’s government was preparing new, tougher anti-terror laws. On Wednesday, police detained French comic Dieudonne for defending terrorism in comments posted on Facebook.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/01/14/charlie-hebdo-prophet-muhammad-paris-attacks/21737785/