You may think you're too young to think about retirement, especially if you just graduated and are heading into your first entry level position, but it is never too early to prepare. With social security dwindling due to the baby boomers retiring, establishing financial security early is ideal. Managing your personal finances is key to being able to retire after 30 years of hard work.

Analyze your debt. Calculate your balance on credit cards and take into account your student loans.
Account for your bills. Whether you're buying, renting, or leasing a car, apartment, or home, these will be crucial. Be sure if you're in the market for any of these things that you are comfortable making payments regularly.
Secure regular income. With this economy, job security is a major issue. Your income will play a huge role in preparation for your retirement. Steady income will help you in your financial planning.


Here's a break down of where your money should be going:

• 50% of your check should go towards bills such as your mortgage/rent, car note, utilities, etc.
• 20% of your money should be used to take care of your debt from credit cards and student loans.
• 15%, divided in half for retirement and a savings/emergency fund, is recommended.
• The other 15% is available for your disposable income.
• If this plan is followed consistently for 30 years or more, you will have a nice nest egg to retire on, without even including pension or a 401K.

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The incidence of food allergies is on the rise.  Mostly likely you or someone close to you suffers from some level of food sensitivities.  Many of my patients come in for this very problem.  Some of them don’t realize allergies might be causing or contributing to other health issues.  (See list below.) 

Why is this increase occurring?

I’ve found through research and clinical experience different reasons.  A few of them include:

1. Over-consumption of or too early exposure (under 6) to high allergen foods.
2. Genetically modified foods.
3. Side effects of certain vaccines.
4. Weakened immunity, if not breast-fed or exposed to high allergen foods through breast milk.
5. Overuse of antibiotics- either as medication or in non-organic animal products.

One of the tricky things about food allergies is that they don’t always show up how you’d expect.  Not everyone responds with an upset stomach, digestive complaints, or fatigue after eating.  This is not something many doctors know, unfortunately and may be slow to diagnose. 

Below is a list of some of side effects of eating foods you’re allergic to:

Eczema, Ear Infections, Infertility (men and women), Depression, Asthma, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Autism, Diarrhea, Gas, Abdominal Pain, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Gallstones, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Peptic Ulcer, Psoriasis, Rosacea, Seborrheic Dermatitis, Urticaria, Migraine Headaches, Multiple Sclerosis, Leaky Gut Syndrome, Epilepsy, Celiac Disease, Panic Attacks, Anxiety, Frequent Flus & Colds, and Weight Gain.

If you have any of the above health concerns, please consult a qualified physician for diagnosis and treatment. There is hope! Healing or minimizes food allergies is now possible. Abstaining from those foods, acupuncture/acupressure, detoxification, proper nutrition, and appropriate supplementation are a part of the protocol. Boosting your immune system, cleansing your body of toxins, and healing any damage done to your digestive tract from the exposure to allergen foods will bring you optimal wellness.  The result will most likely be at minimum a reduction in allergy symptoms, and at best- a complete elimination of your allergies.

Live Natural.  Live Well.

Heather

Part one: Put your passion into your work

I had the privilege of attending the annual National Association of Broadcasters event in Las Vegas. The Rainmaker Network was in full swing at the G-Tech/Hitachi booth. I got the chance to meet lots of media and tech professionals from all over the world. Lucky me!

A lot of the professionals that I spoke to all drove one point home: Put your passion into your work. You can't drive creativity without passion. It doesn't matter if you're an accountant, designer or marine biologist: you have to find what you love to do, you'll never work a day in your life! It is important not to be swayed by trends but to tap into your real interests. Even if you don't know exactly what you want to do, start somewhere and begin exploring your options through volunteering, internships or continued education. The more proactive you are about your passions, the happier you'll be in the long run. Being fulfilled and passionate about your work is incredibly rewarding and starts with a few small steps. Stumbling is allowed as long as you continue to move forward.

Here's some inspiration and pearls of wisdom, courtesy of Troy Church, a user experience designer for Adobe. For all of our design and media Rainmakers out there, TRN will be working with G-Tech/Hitachi at the Adobe CS5 Roadshow on Thursday June 10th...stay tuned for more details!

When answering a question or conveying an idea, do you have difficulty relaying what you mean? The type of communication you hold with friends, university staff and even professors is very different from the type of speech that is most effective in the workplace.

Taking on an internship or even a volunteer experience will put you in a professional atmosphere that you may be foreign in. It's worth a moment of your time to think about how you will communicate with your co-workers and your supervisor in these situations, especially concerning stressful topics or during crisis moments.

To speak the most effectively when communicating problems or issues to a supervisor or boss, make sure that you clearly understand what the issue is and are prepared to articulate it to others. If you feel angry or intensely frustrated over the issue, take time to cool down. It is perfectly acceptable to gather your thoughts. Second, know how you would like to see the issue resolved, or at least have a suggestion at the ready on how to improve the circumstances.

Once you are ready to speak, eliminate weak language. "I" statements are the most notorious for weakening your comments. Just as your professors ban the use of "I" statements in your papers, don't include them in the professional atmosphere. Here's how to turn those sentences around:

1. I am too stressed and over-burneded to take on an additional research project.

Considering these two research projects and quantitative data that I am already working on, an additional project of this size will be too large to handle until next Wednesday.

2. I have a problem with one of the associates in our department; they are not completing their work on time and it has made all of us late in finishing this project.

Our department has been unable to complete this project on time because there is a productivity issue with one of our co-workers.

It is also important to communicate effectively in your daily office interactions. Have you responded to a co-worker or boss' statement with offhand words like "cool" or "that's great" and felt immediately that it was not the best response? Don't worry, every one of us has made this mistake. Here is an example on how to respond with a stronger and more professional comment:

1. Respond with a simple okay. Acknowledging their statement shows that you listened and can now act upon their words or are ready to move on to the next topic.

If you need further clarification on their statement, say something like this: "If I heard you correctly, __________" or, "To clarify, ______________." Make sure to repeat what they said, using the same key phrases that they used while speaking to you.


Resources on Honing Your Speech:

For more tips on managing your communication in the professional space, review these two books.

Words that Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear by Frank Luntz
Words that Work is incredibly valuable for use in the workplace even though Luntz designed the book to guide people in the political arena. One of the best pieces of advice Luntz offers is to use a few, well-thought out words to convey your meaning instead of delivering a dissertation-like comment. The longer the email, letter or discussion, the less attentive the listener.

How to Say It For Women: Communicating with Confidence and Power Using the Language of Success by Phyllis Mindell
This book is more valuable than you can imagine. It's advice comes from a seasoned professional communications expert and will guide you through handling awkward situations, from working through communication mismatches and misunderstandings to handling hot button issues with dexterity. Each chapter is simply written and easy to digest. You'll be utilizing these principals the same day you read them.