Survival strategies

It’s Official: The Boomerang Kids Won’t Leave – NYTimes.com

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It’s Official: The Boomerang Kids Won’t Leave – NYTimes.com.

One in five people in their 20s and early 30s is currently living with his or her parents. And 60 percent of all young adults receive financial support from them. That’s a significant increase from a generation ago, when only one in 10 young adults moved back home and few received financial support. The common explanation for the shift is that people born in the late 1980s and early 1990s came of age amid several unfortunate and overlapping economic trends. Those who graduated college as the housing market and financial system were imploding faced the highest debt burden of any graduating class in history. Nearly 45 percent of 25-year-olds, for instance, have outstanding loans, with an average debt above $20,000. (Kasinecz still has about $60,000 to go.) And more than half of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed, meaning they make substandard wages in jobs that don’t require a college degree. According to Lisa B. Kahn, an economist at Yale University, the negative impact of graduating into a recession never fully disappears. Even 20 years later, the people who graduated into the recession of the early ’80s were making substantially less money than people lucky enough to have graduated a few years afterward, when the economy was booming.

Read the entire article for a lesson in how to put a positive spin on our new Culture of Dependency.  Watch the slideshow of a dose of reality.  Then read the reader comments and decide for yourself if this “new and permanent life stage” is truly a “potentially thrilling economic evolution”.

Or not.

Johns Hopkins Health Alert – The Compelling Case Against Sugar

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Re-posted from the Johns Hopkins Health Alert email The Compelling Case Against Sugar

For years, nutrition experts have warned that consuming too much sugar contributes to excess weight gain. Now, a mounting body of scientific evidence suggests that sugar is even more detrimental to the body than was previously believed. As a result, a growing chorus of scientists and public health advocates is urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to set safe limits for sugar consumption.

Recently, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, took matters even further, suggesting that sugar should be regulated by the government to protect public health — just like alcohol and tobacco. Sugar, they argue, is a toxic substance with a tremendous potential for abuse because it affects the brain in a way that encourages people to consume larger amounts, even when they should be satisfied with what they’ve already had.

What’s more, they contend, sugar changes a person’s metabolism, altering the signaling of hormones (including leptin, ghrelin, and dopamine, which regulate satiety, hunger, and pleasure, respectively) in a detrimental way. In other words, the researchers say, sugar is addictive.

That point of view is quite controversial, however, so it’s not likely that sugar is going to be banned or regulated by the government — at least not anytime soon. Nevertheless, the latest research makes a compelling case for determining just how much sugar is safe for human consumption — and for cutting back on the amount of sugar you consume.

The dangers of added sugar. First, it’s important to distinguish natural sugars from added sugars. Natural sugars are an essential part of our diet because the human body converts them to glucose to meet its energy needs. Natural sugars are found in varying amounts in fruits and vegetables, which contain fructose, and in dairy products, which contain lactose.

Added sugars, on the other hand, are not essential. Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared, as well as the sugar you add to your coffee, tea, cereal or other foods. Whether it’s added in the form of white sugar, raw sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey or molasses, it’s all sugar.

Added sugar has been implicated in a variety of ills, from raising blood pressure and increasing the risk of gout to causing liver damage and accelerating the aging process. Some of the strongest evidence to date shows associations between excess sugar consumption and diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

How much added sugar is too much? Surprisingly, the answer to this question varies. Currently, the USDA recommends that people consume no more than 10 teaspoons of added sugar in a 2,000-calorie per day diet. At 16 calories per teaspoon, that’s 160 calories each day. These days people typically consume twice that amount.

Life Insurance Underwriters Jobs – New York, NY | Indeed.com

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I have shameless copied this job posting from Indeed.com because my website gets a lot of visitors looking for work.  If you’re looking for work I wish you much success in finding what you are looking for.  I have personally been home office based for nearly 8 years.  Not a bad way to make a living.  I miss the corporate politics and meetings but not much else.

Life Insurance Underwriters job – New York, NY | Indeed.com.

Life Insurance Underwriters, 15 insurance underwriters needed immediately by well-known national insurance company. You may work at home!These are full time positions working Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm from the comfort of your home. You will earn $20 to $35 an hour or more, depending on you experience and abilities. 

You will be responsible for:

  • Assessing medical and financial risk to protect the mortality results of the organization while also supporting sales.
  • Emailing customers and occasionally speaking with them regarding their insurance.
  • Underwriting complex formal applications and informal quote applications with the ability to evaluate and take final action in an independent manner within approval authority guidelines.
  • Analyzing complex information and interpreting same to reach comprehensive medical and financial assessments based on company guidelines and policy.
  • Effectively managing change, defusing conflict and negotiate positive results.


In order to be considered, you must have at least 8+ years of life underwriting experience with demonstrated competence handling large face amount cases. In addition, you need:

  • Experience with brokerage distribution marketplace.
  • Approval authority minimum of $2,000,000 experience.
  • FLMI, FALU and/or CLU designations preferred.


If you have superior technical underwriting skills, are able to manage a large caseload, and seek a position where you may work from the comfort of your home, then please send your resume now, in complete confidentiality to:
boston@iosstaffing.com 

Salary Range 
$20.00 to $35.00 

Schedule 
9am – 5 pm 

Interested in this position? For more details, contact boston@iosstaffing.com
Corporate Resource Services is an equal opportunity employer
CRS Co. – 18 days ago – save job – original job – block

America’s Workers: Stressed Out, Overwhelmed, Totally Exhausted – The Atlantic

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I asked Peter Senge about that. How to try to live and work in a sane way when you’re in the middle of insanity: a voracious workplace that will eat you alive, friends and neighbors who raise eyebrows if you pull your kids out of some competitive activity. He gave some important advice: Create your own community, a network of like-minded people. Humans are wired to conform—that’s why these cultural pressures, however silly they may seem, wield such power over us. So find a group that fits your values that would make you happier to conform to.

via America’s Workers: Stressed Out, Overwhelmed, Totally Exhausted – Rebecca J. Rosen – The Atlantic.

Blog Shift – From Life Underwriting Expert to Professional Writer (gasp)

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As I typed the title I heard a collective gasp from the Force.  You can’t be serious?  Professional writer?  Do you know how hard it will be to make a living?

Yes, as a matter of fact I do.

I have this to say to my legions of followers:  do not panic.  Here are the service offering changes to expect this year:

  • I will continue to offer my consulting services on a limited basis to select clients.
  • Life underwriting expert witness litigation support services will continue to be provided.
  • Technical underwriting services are fully committed at this time.
  • Professional corporate writing services for life insurance companies and their respective distribution channels.

There are a lot of very smart people in business today; there are not a lot of good writers. Couple this with the fact that companies need to produce more words, via a greater number of channels, than ever before, and you quickly come to realize that the corporate landscape is rife with opportunity for those who know how to communicate, you know, good.  I.J. Schecter

Here is what to expect from this blog:

  • More natural writing posts.  As I transition to more writing for hire I need to write more.  This blog will the primary landing area for my brain droppings.
  • Less links to what I consider to be essential reading for professional life underwriters.  The links to relevant articles will continue, just not in the frequency and quantity of the past five years.
  • More painfully blatant examples of shameless self-promotion.  Got to eat.  And yes, I still have a mortgage, one child in medical school, one child still an undergraduate, three cars and and a nasty writing habit to support.

I look forward to helping you succeed in your business.

Thanks for reading and your continued support.

Flavonoid-rich Fruit and Vegetables Improve Microvascular Reactivity and Inflammatory Status

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Results: In men, the HF F&V diet increased endothelium-dependent microvascular reactivity P = 0.017 with +2 portions/d at 6 wk and reduced C-reactive protein P = 0.001, E-selectin P = 0.0005, and vascular cell adhesion molecule P = 0.0468 with +4 portions/d at 12 wk. HF F&Vs increased plasma NO P = 0.0243 with +4 portions/d at 12 wk in the group as a whole. An increase in F&Vs, regardless of flavonoid content in the groups as a whole, mitigated increases in vascular stiffness measured by PWA P = 0.0065 and reductions in NO P = 0.0299 in the control group.

via Flavonoid-rich fruit and vegetables improve microvascular reactivity and inflammatory status in men at risk of cardiovascular disease—FLAVURS: a randomized controlled trial.

Mom was right.

Trapped in a Cycle of Internships With Little Pay and No Job Offers – NYTimes.com

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While the idea of slaving away in two, three or four quasi jobs without a clear path for advancement may seem unimaginable to an older generation, those in their 20s seem to respond to their jobless fate with a collective shrug. To them, internships are the new normal. “For some people, being an accountant, taking a safe route, is perfectly fine, but that’s not where my values lie,” Ms. Thomas said.

via Millennials Feel Trapped in a Cycle of Internships With Little Pay and No Job Offers – NYTimes.com.

Passion is overrated.  The real question is how long are you willing to chase your dream before you understand all you are doing is letting other people totally screw you over?

CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST- Administrators and Part-Timers: Changes in U.S. Higher Education Workforce

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I’ll only add that institutions are defined by their people. As the full-time and tenured faculty become a smaller share of the employees of the institution and the professional administrators become a larger share, the nature and character of the institution inevitably changes. In this case, colleges and universities have become less about faculty, teaching, and research, and more about the provision of professional services to students and faculty. As far as I know, this shift was not planned or chosen, and the costs and benefits of such a shift were not analyzed in advance. It just happened.

via CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST: Administrators and Part-Timers: Changes in U.S. Higher Education Workforce.

$700 or $915 per credit hour, depending on degree.

The numbers above are pulled directly from a university website.  The campus sits just a mile from my house.  The work is part time and I don’t qualify for either pay level.  To work part time teaching at a university you need a minimum of a Masters degree.  So someone who busts their butt to earn a Doctorate can make $915.00 per credit hour.

I’m speechless.

 

Mediterranean Diet Cuts Risk of Diabetes

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Compared with a control diet and a Mediterranean diet supplemented with mixed nuts, the olive oil-supplemented Mediterranean diet was associated with a 40% lower likelihood for new-onset diabetes (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.43-0.85) , according to Jordi Salas-Salvado, MD, PhD, of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Reus, Spain, and colleagues.

Dieters who consumed a nut-supplemented Mediterranean diet did not see such protective benefits (HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.61-1.10), they wrote online in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

via Mediterranean Diet Cuts Risk of Diabetes.

Read the article and then the readers’ comments.  The following are some excerpts:

The findings of this study identify inherent weaknesses in methodology. The low fat control group did not adhere to a low fat diet and the improbable risks of CVD were notably higher.

 

I wonder if the researchers would consider the benefits of asking their subjects to spread their food intake more evenly throughout the day rather than the the usual Spanish pattern of negligible breakfast, snack about 11, then large lunch mid-afternoon and a big, late evening meal. Also in my experience travelling in various parts of Spain, the diet includes plenty of pork.’Every bit of the pig but the eyes.’.

 

The olive oil group was probably using that in place of other vegetable oils for cooking and salad. Vegetable oils like soy and corn oil are high in pro-inflammatory omega-6, and are often partially hydrogenated (ie trans fats.) Avoidance of these in the olive group could have made a difference.

 

Be cautious in coming to conclusions based upon this study.  The sample size was small.  Perhaps too little attention was paid to what the participants did not consume.  We all know less red meat is better for health.  The Mediterranean style diet is clearly a healthy diet but I’m not quite ready to attribute all the wonderful benefits to the diet alone.

Think lifestyle.  Despite the increase in US style fast food restaurants in Spain, the overall dietary preference continues to be a Mediterranean diet.  So how much of the study’s effect come from fast food avoidance?

BTW, yesterday was a totally Mediterranean day for me.  Veggie pizza for lunch and a Greek salad with grilled chicken for dinner.