Personal Finance Daily: Getting retirement ready, with a little practice

	Personal Finance Daily MAY 11, 2012 Friday's Personal Finance Stories By MarketWatch Don't miss these top stories: Practice retirement before leaping into leisure Social media offers sweet revenge for bad service Toyota RAV4 EV: Will anyone buy it? Robert Powell writes in his On Retirement column today about a new idea for retirement: practice at it before you quit your job. That is, don't try to quit in your early 60s, but hunker down at work even as you play at retirement on weekends and vacations. That could mean buying that RV you've always wanted, or taking a long-desired trip to some distant land—all while you still have the financial cushion of a paycheck. Of course, all of this assumes you're financially prepared for retirement. And that you have a job. Also, don't miss Jennifer Waters's Consumer Confidential column today for a look at how social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook can be your allies when it comes to getting restitution, or at least an apology, when a company gives you bad customer service. —Andrea Coombes , Personal Finance editor Social media offers sweet revenge for bad service Tweets and Facebook gripes get more response than a phone call to a customer-service representative. Social media offers sweet revenge for bad service. Practice retirement before leaping into leisure Rather than working to age 62 or 70 and then retiring, and instead of cycling in and out of retirement, what about working and retiring—at the same time? That's the advice of one financial advisory firm. They call it "practice retirement." Robert Powell looks at the pros and cons. Practice retirement before leaping into leisure. Remodeling jobs on the rise More homeowners are remodeling these days, with kitchen and bathroom projects the most popular improvements, according to a survey released this week by the National Association of Home Builders. Remodeling jobs on the rise. A lien can hit your home-equity line Lines of credit can be frozen or even called due and payable—but only under certain circumstances, which should be spelled out in the note you signed, Lew Sichelman writes. A lien can hit your home-equity line. Toyota RAV4 EV: Will anyone buy it? Perhaps I'm missing some vital piece of information, but I can't imagine more than a handful of people willing to spend twice the cost of a gasoline-powered RAV4 to have an electric version. It doesn't make sense. Toyota RAV4 EV: Will anyone buy it? ECONOMY & POLITICS We need more than cheap gas The minute the Labor Department said that gas prices had fallen — driving down the producer price index — you knew that consumers were happy, writes Chuck Jaffe. We need more than cheap gas. One less thing to worry about:: gasoline prices The U.S. economy still faces lots of big challenges — a mountain of foreclosures, a fiscal cliff and the ever-present euro crisis — but one worry seems to be fading away: high gasoline prices, writes Rex Nutting. One less thing to worry about: gasoline prices. Consumer sentiment in May at post-recession high Consumer sentiment edged higher in May, as declining gasoline prices appear to have offset slowing job-markets growth. Consumer sentiment in May at post-recession high. U.S. producer prices drop 0.2% in April A downturn in gasoline prices leads to a bigger seasonally adjusted drop in wholesale inflation than forecast for April. But core prices bear watching, U.S. data indicate. U.S. producer prices drop 0.2% in April. SEC's Schapiro defends money-fund reform Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro on Friday defended her decision to bring new regulations to the $2.5 trillion money-market fund industry by reminding a reluctant audience of the recent financial crisis. SEC's Schapiro defends money-fund reform. INVESTING How to play nice with the bears of summer Strategists are mixed on what sectors to favor in the summer but most agree the traditionally bearish season should be milder this time around. How to play nice with the bears of summer. Cheap mutual funds aren't always better With mutual funds, you don't always get what you pay for. That's often true with expensive products, since fees and other costs are a drag on investment returns. But it's also the case with low-cost offerings, where what looks like a bargain for active management is just a loser. Cheap mutual funds aren't always better. Life, like a fish story, must be taken on faith A former sales rep hit bottom before he found God. And then he found an almost unbelievable fish story that's taken over his life, Al Lewis reports. Life, like a fish story, must be taken on faith. J.P. Morgan's losses reveal market chaos Credit-default swaps, interest-rate swaps, massive derivative hedging bets, dark pools all run by algorithms — the markets are so run amok that they are humiliating the smartest guys on Wall Street. And there is none smarter than Jamie Dimon at the top of an institution. J.P. Morgan's losses reveal market chaos. Shareholders put heat on imperial CEOs A quiet rebellion has brewed for years among shareholders opposed to CEOs who run their companies as personal fiefdoms. Shareholders put heat on imperial CEOs. Bond-market investors' delusions Most investors hold a major position in bonds, despite believing that over the long term those bonds will be lower than where they are today, reports Mark Hulbert. Bond-market investors' delusions. Yahoo CEO, get out He has lost his credibility and won't be taken seriously. So it's time for Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson to hit the road, writes media columnist Jon Friedman Yahoo CEO, get out. False capital has value, but not values More and more, we're realizing that capital needs to have a purpose beyond simple profit if it's going to do any good, writes Thomas Kostigen. False capital has value, but not values. Get the latest news on our mobile site: http://www.marketwatch.com/m MarketWatch has sent you this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. To ensure you receive this newsletter in the future, please add marketwatchmail.com to your list of approved senders. Sent to: kumaresan.selva.blogger@gmail.com Unsubscribe | Subscribe Copyright 2012 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc. 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