The Challenges of Launching an Encore Career

Many people dream about launching a second career in a field they have always wanted to try. But the transition into an encore career can be a long and costly process.Most people earn a significantly lower amount of money (43 percent) or no money at all (24 percent) during the transition from one job to the next, according to a recent MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures survey conducted by Penn...

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The Importance of Being Self-Reliant in Retirement

Most baby boomers are at various stages of preparing for retirement, depending on whether they were born at the beginning or end of their generation. The smart ones realize that effective planning starts well before retirement age. Important calculations need to be made to determine what it will take to survive financially throughout the retirement years. Post-work lifestyles and passions also need...

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World's biggest Titanic attraction opens in Belfast

The largest Titanic visitor attraction in the world opened in the ship's Belfast birthplace on Saturday, some 100 years after the doomed liner was built in the same yards.Almost 100,000 tickets for Titanic Belfast, a striking aluminium-clad building which tells the famous ship's story through special effects, interactive screens and a ride, have been sold ahead of the opening.Organisers hope the...

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Detained Nigerian newspaper journalists released

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — An official says two Nigerian journalists have been freed after being detained without charges for more than a week by the nation's secret police following writing stories about a radical Islamist sect and alleged military abuses.Mohammed Garba, president of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, said Tuesday that Musa Mohammed Awwal and Aliyu Saleh, journalists with the weekly Hausa...

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C. African Republic capital fears rebel attack

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Kpademona Marcel and other residents of the capital of Central African Republic have watched in fear as rebels from the country's north seized control of more than half the country in less than a month. On Tuesday, all he could do was pray that a solution to the crisis could be found without the violence reaching Bangui."We are afraid for our nation and for...

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Stampede after fireworks kills 61 in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — A crowd stampeded after leaving a New Year's fireworks show early Tuesday in Ivory Coast's main city, killing 61 people — many of them children and teenagers — and injuring more than 200, rescue workers said.Thousands had gathered at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan's Plateau district to see the fireworks. It was only the second New Year's Eve fireworks display...

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Angola: Stampede kills 10 at religious gathering

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Angolan media say 10 people, including four children, have died in a stampede during a religious gathering at a sports stadium in Luanda, the Angolan capital.Angop, the Angolan news agency, cited officials as saying Tuesday that 120 people were also injured. The incident happened on New Year's Eve when tens of thousands of people gathered at the stadium and panic ensued. Faustino...

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South Africa: Mandela rests at home

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's presidency says former leader Nelson Mandela is progressing with his recuperation from illness and doctors are closely monitoring his condition.Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said Wednesday that "everything is moving OK" as 94-year-old Mandela rests at his home in Johannesburg after a hospital stay last month.The former president received treatment for a lung...

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US home sales rise 2.1 percent in October

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. sales of previously occupied homes rose solidly in October, helped by improvement in the job market and record-low mortgage rates.The increase along with a jump in homebuilder confidence this month suggests the housing market continues to recover.The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales rose 2.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million....

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News Summary: US home sales rise 2.1 pct. in Oct.

SALES RISE: U.S. sales of previously occupied homes rose moderately in October, helped by improvement in the job market and record-low mortgage rates. Sales rose 2.1 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million according to the National Association of Realtors.INVENTORIES: A decline in housing inventory is helping push prices higher. There were only 2.14 million homes available...

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