In business, the only thing that matters is what works, says Peder Johnsen, a third-generation specialist in senior living communities.

"The people in your company who are dealing with your customers - the clerks, the caregivers, the customer service reps - are where the rubber meets the road," says Johnsen, CEO of Concordis Senior Living, www.concordisseniorliving.com, which owns, operates and develops senior housing communities.

"That's why it's essential for the company leaders, the men and women in the offices that are often far from the front lines, to be where the action is on a regular basis," he says.

Concordis' specialties include managing senior-living communities for other owners and developers, an art it has perfected, Johnsen says.

"We developed certain practices over the decades, first by building assisted-living communities and then by operating them," he says. "These practices work in any business because they keep the leadership actively involved in what's going well - and not - on the front lines, and provides a system for regular communication through all layers of the company."

Johnsen offers these tips for management that produces excellent results:

•  Identify the influencers in each work group. As with most businesses, senior living communities require teams of staff, from administrators to housekeepers and everyone in between. Within the various groups that make up your business, identify the key players - the people who influence others' behavior, whether or not they hold a title or official authority. Meet with them on a regular basis so you can stay plugged in to what's happening on the front lines.

•  Identify areas that need improvement. Talk to them about systems and areas that need to be fixed, overhauled or eliminated, and about how team members are working together. They'll often have ideas for innovations. The idea is not to look for people or problems to blame, but to work together to develop solutions and improve the team's overall efforts.

"The information you get in speaking with these key players is invaluable," Johnsen says. "There may be nothing at all wrong, which is great, but these meetings give you, the CEO or manager, the information you need to constantly improve. It also reinforces the message to employees that they and their ideas are valued members of the team."

•  Figure out those "wildly important goals." You can have the best people in the field working for you, yet if they're not specifically guided to a certain goal, they are putting their time and effort toward an end that they're assuming is correct. CEOs and other upper-level managers have the 30,000-foot view, so it's up to them to guide everyone beneath them.

"Short-term priorities may change slightly or drastically on a regular basis," Johnsen says. "Your team may be self-sufficient, but their vision is limited to their daily duties. If they don't know that a goal or objective has changed, they can't work toward it."

About Peder Johnsen

Peder Johnsen is the CEO of Concordis Senior Living, www.concordisseniorliving.com, which owns, operates and develops senior housing communities. He's a third-generation assisted-living specialist whose grandfather and father built one of the first contemporary-style ALFs in Florida more than 30 years ago. Johnsen took over administration of two small facilities at age 18. Today, he runs the full spectrum of ALFs - from "ALF lites," where most residents live very independent lifestyles but know assisted-living services are available if they should need them, to homes specializing in care for residents with Alzheimer's and dementia. He is an industry leader in staff development and training, and has overseen the development, acquisition and financing of several communities.

Slide over, sweaty mug of brutish beer; wine has stepped up its game!

In the past two decades, zins, cabs and chardonnays have soared in popularity among imbibing Americans. The preference of just one in four in 1992, its now the alcoholic beverage of choice for 35 percent of us, according to a 2013 Gallup poll. At the same time, beer has taken a tumble, from the favorite of nearly half of us to just 36 percent.

"Wine is an adventure in a glass - something other cultures have recognized for centuries," says Howard Kleinfeld, author (as Howard K.) of "Dial M for Merlot," www.DialMforMerlot.com, a fun novel about a lovelorn nerd whose world snaps to life with his first wine tasting.

"For a long time in this country, we viewed wine as an elitist beverage. Just to be eligible to uncork a bottle required a scary level of sophistication. I have great respect for connoisseurs and the sommeliers, but if you've ever attended a wine tasting, you quickly see wine is actually the great equalizer."

For those who've never visited a vineyard or sipped a Gewurztraminer, Kleinfeld offers these tips to free up your palate -- and your psyche -- for a full-bodied experience.

1.  What's the best wine?
You'll find all kinds of lists purporting to distill the top 10 or top 100 best wines of the thousands upon thousands of new releases each year. They are a wonderful resource for information and a great starting point, but there is no substitute for personal exploration.
"The best wine is always whatever's in your glass at the moment," Kleinfeld says, "unless whatever's in your glass makes you grimace, in which case ..."

2.  Don't drink it if it doesn't make you happy.
Life really is too short to not make the most of every moment - and every sensual experience.
"I learned that in 2007 when I was diagnosed with throat cancer at, what I felt was, a very young age," Kleinfeld says. "I got through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation with the love and support of my family and friends, but I lost my sense of taste for a few years."
Cancer-free and with all of his senses intact, Kleinfeld says he has resolved to enjoy every sip of life.
"Don't waste your time on wine you don't enjoy. Save it for cooking," he says. "Drink something that puts a smile on your face. And remember - there are all kinds of smiles."

3.  Go ahead and shell out $50 or $100 on a wine you just have to taste again.
A lot of us think California and Napa Valley when we think domestic wines, and while The Golden State is the No. 1 producer in the country (followed by Washington, Oregon and New York), every state now has wineries. That means that wherever you are, there's a wine tasting room within driving distance.
"If you go to a wine tasting and you sample something you absolutely love, something you know you want to taste again - maybe with a steak, which they don't usually have at wine-tasting rooms, go ahead and buy it," Kleinfeld advises.
"Forget that it costs three or four times what you (might) usually spend for a bottle of wine. Splurge. See tip No. 2."

4.  Forget the red with meat, white with fish and chicken rule - unless it works for you.
The idea of pairing red wines with red meats has to do with the bolder flavor of both. Fish and chicken tend to have milder flavors, as do many white wines.
"But there are so many exceptions to those 'rules' you may as well just toss 'em," Kleinfeld says. "They don't take into account the range of flavors of meat, fish and chicken, especially when you consider all the different ways they can be prepared. And if you're not a fan of Riesling, for instance, you won't like it no matter what you pair it with."
Be an adventurer, he advises. Open a few different varieties of wine when you sit down to eat and explore different pairings.
"The entrees and wines you best enjoy together are the perfect pairings for you."

About Howard Kleinfeld (Howard K)

Howard Kleinfeld is a full-time wine enthusiast, part-time foodie, and first-time author. His new novel, "Dial M for Merlot," www.DialMforMerlot.com, written under the pen name Howard K, follows a 30-year-old math whiz's intoxicating journey of wine discovery. Kleinfeld is a longtime singer-songwriter whose compositions/productions for advertising, TV shows and indie films have earned him Emmy, Telly and Addy, awards.

Less than half of high school graduates who took the SAT in 2013 were prepared for college, continuing a five-year trend.

Less than half - 44 percent -- who took the ACT had the reading skills necessary for college. That's down from 53 percent in 2009. And nearly a third failed to meet standards in four areas: reading, English, science and math.

The failures have persisted despite years of new tests, new curricula and new demands on teachers, notes educational researcher and consultant Charles M. Reigeluth, author of "Reinventing Schools: It's Time to Break the Mold," (www.reigeluth.net).

"We continue to approach the same problems with the same sorts of solutions, despite the fact that they're not working," he says. "Instead, we need a fundamental shift in how we educate our children. Our public school system was designed to meet the needs of a long-ago era - the Industrial Age. It's not working because we're now in the Information Age."

Teachers unfairly shoulder much of the blame for the lack of progress, he notes, but they're hamstrung by roles and rules that don't work for 21st century students.

"We need to change from teacher-centered education to learner-centered. In the Industrial Age paradigm, teachers are a judge and a perceived threat. In the Information Age, they should be guides and coaches who help students overcome obstacles," says Reigeluth.

His multidimensional approach includes reducing bureaucracy in schools; encouraging students to teach each other with teacher supervision; having interns and other paraprofessionals, including retiree volunteers, assist with guiding student learning; and creating an "educational cooperative," where a community's adults can earn access to learning resources, advancing their own education, in exchange for helping students learn.

"The new paradigm can significantly reduce the cost of education while increasing the quality," says Reigeluth, who outlines the five new roles teachers would have in this redesigned system.

•  Mentor ... the same 20 to 30 students for several years, addressing all aspects of student development. Students and teachers would develop the deeper relationships that foster real caring on both sides. Mentors would help students prepare a personal learning plan for each project period, six to 12 weeks, including helping each student and his parents choose appropriate instructional goals, subject to standards set by the community, state and nation. Mentors would also help identify and support the best means for each student to achieve those goals.

•  Designer ... of student work options, mostly projects or tasks, to engage students in the learning process. Open educational resources developed by teachers throughout the country and available to all educators for free via the Internet can alleviate much of the burden of the designer role.

•  Facilitator ... of the learning process, which entails monitoring student progress, enhancing student motivation and coaching student performance.

•  Learner ... the teacher is always learning with the students, about students, from and for the students. The teacher does not have all the answers, but the teacher helps students find answers. And the teacher is always learning more about how best to meet students' needs. The new paradigm provides sufficient support for teacher learning.

•  Owner and manager ... of the school. Like lawyers and accountants in a small firm, teachers would be partners who own their public school and make decisions about its operations, including budgeting and staffing. This model is already a success at the Minnesota New Country School and other EdVisions schools. This role elevates teachers to that of true professionals, rather than workers controlled by an all-powerful bureaucracy.

"These new roles offer empowerment to those who are most affected by our system, the student and the teacher, the latter of whom I suggest calling 'guides' to better reflect their new roles," Reigeluth says. "The new roles better serve students in the age in which we live."

About Charles M. Reigeluth

Charles M. Reigeluth is a distinguished educational researcher who focuses on paradigm change in education. He has a B.A. in economics from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in instructional psychology from Brigham Young University. He was a professor at the Instructional Systems Technology Department at Indiana University, and is a former chairman of the department. His new book, "Reinventing Schools," (www.reigeluth.net), advocates and chronicles a national paradigm change in K-12 education. He offers presentations and consulting on this topic.

As major stock market indexes continue to climb, so too are concerns on the "fear market" - VIX, the CBOE S&P 500 Options Volatility Index, says entrepreneur Dean Anastos.

"Advances in the market have been relatively thin in volume, and the declines have been heavier; in general, there seems to be too much complacency among investors, and there are hints here and there that the market is not as bullish as many have supposed," says Anastos, who specializes in real estate, computer programming and trading data communications equipment.

"Now may be a really good time to look elsewhere for smart investments," says his business partner Ricky Brava.

Anastos and Brava review some of those options.

·  Real estate is still growing. No area was hit harder by the recession than real estate. Since then, however, the getting has been good for prospective buyers looking for a profit, yet many remain gun shy due to the hard lessons of 2008-09. Meanwhile, the housing recovery continues as prices are getting back to where they once were. In many markets, buying is still cheaper than renting, "although this is not true everywhere," Anastos says. "Ultimately, it depends on the area, the loan and how long you may be looking to live on the property - or, if you want to rent a property out, which continues to be very lucrative today."

·  Banks have plenty of distressed debt; consider a deal. (www.apollofinancialgrp.com). "We buy distressed debt bank portfolios that aren't generating cash for the bank and work with the families in the homes to refinance at affordable rates," says Brava, senior partner at Apollo Financial Group, founded by Anastos, who adds, "If we can't work it out with the owner, the property gets a second chance, rather than sitting vacant, when we sell the loans as non-performing first or second lien bank notes."

Conduct a thorough title search of the property to reveal any liens. Check with the county to ascertain what, if any, outstanding property taxes are due. Contact a local real estate agent to get an estimation on the property and its as-is resale value.

·  Keep in mind tax-advantaged investments. Tax-advantaged investments can include real estate partnerships, oil and gas partnerships and suitability, which refers to how appropriate an investment may or may not be to an investor. Two of the most common types of real estate partnerships, for example, are low-income housing and historic rehabilitation. The federal government grants tax credits to those who construct or rehabilitate low-income housing or who invest in the rehabilitation or preservation of historic structures.

·  Pay attention to possible changes to Roth IRAs - still a good option, so far. This is still a good investment option for retirement, even though significant changes have been proposed by the White House. Your allotted money goes into a Roth after it's already been taxed, but earnings aren't taxed. Unlike traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, Roth owners currently don't have to take annual distributions after turning 70½ ? which means the money has even more years to grow if the owner doesn't need it. And once the Roth owner dies, the beneficiary inherits the money tax-free. President Obama says this isn't what was intended in a Roth and wants to change this advantage, yet his proposal continues to face mass opposition and many think it won't pass.

About Dean Anastos and Ricky Brava

Dean Anastos is the founder of Apollo Financial Group, (www.apollofinancialgrp.com), and Ricky Brava is senior partner. Anastos is an entrepreneur with a background in real estate, computer programming and trading data communications equipment. Brava specializes in education, marketing and new business development, with an expertise in data-driven, long-term strategic planning. Both men have a strong interest in business opportunities that help resolve societal problems.