At some point during their lifetime, most people wonder whether they've done enough - if they've made a positive impact, says Jeff Bucher, a financial advisor who helps working-class Americans plan their golden years.

"For most people, I think that concern increases as they get closer to retirement - they wonder what their earning years have bought for themselves and the people they care about, which may extend to their greater community," says Bucher, who, through his firm, Citizen Advisory Group, (www.citizenadvisory.com), has contributed to the local Boys & Girls Club, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and to development of an Olympic training center for wrestling at Ohio State University, his alma mater, where he earned a wrestling scholarship.

"You don't have to be super-wealthy to make a significant contribution to others. The smarter you are with the wealth you do have, however, the more of an impact you'll be able to have."

If you want to make a difference with your money, you're better off having your financial affairs in order. Bucher offers a few suggestions.

• Now is the time to design a lifetime income plan. Simply attaining a minimum figure in savings probably won't work; such figures do not account for family emergencies, inflation, etc. Social Security does not cover what it used to, and its future is uncertain at best. You need to establish a laddered, inflation-adjusted income using safe and dependable accounts that will provide a check every month. This should be informed by a plan that maps out your lifetime income needs to ensure that you do not outlive your money. For example, if you need $3,000 a month now, at a 4 percent inflation rate you will need $3,649.96 in five years. In 10 years you will need almost $4,500 per month.

• Consider holding off on retirement. Many people are understandably eager to retire as early as possible; others fear Social Security benefits will vanish, so they want to get what they can as quickly as possible - at age 62. But if you're counting on those benefits as part of your income, you should wait until you're eligible for the full amount. That's age 66 if you were born from 1943 to 1954, and age 67 if you were born in 1960 and later. If you're in the older group, retiring at 62 cuts your benefits by a quarter; for the younger group it's nearly a third. "Chances are, you'll be better off mentally and physically if you wait anyway," Bucher says. "Many studies show that people live longer and are more vital the longer they remain employed."

• Know when to transfer investments out of tax-deferred plans. If you're working for a company that provides a match for 401k contributions, by all means, contribute up to the maximum match. "That's free money - you'd be crazy not to take advantage," Bucher says. But anything beyond that should be invested in something that's more tax efficient: Roth IRA, municipal bonds, life insurance or real estate. No one expects taxes will go down - they'll be going up. Uncle Sam already has a lien on your IRA or 401(k); don't let his lien, the taxes you'll owe, continue to grow. Go ahead and pay now. Your future retired self will be glad you did.

About Jeff Bucher

Jeff Bucher is president of Citizen Advisory Group (www.citizenadvisory.com), and is an Investment Advisor Representative of AlphaStar Capital Management, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. He has a life and health insurance license with the state of Ohio. His membership affiliations include the exclusive Ed Slott's Master Elite IRA Advisor Group™, National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), the National Association of Fixed Annuities (NAFA) and the Forum 400. He has earned Top of the Table honors through the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT). Bucher is a former standout wrestler at The Ohio State University, where he earned an athletic scholarship and honed his leadership skills en route to earning four varsity letters.

The 2nd Annual BIG BACON BONANZA is almost upon us! Saturday, February 28th at the RiverCenter Great Hall, 4 - 7 p.m.

Hurry and buy your tickets for a chance to Sample lots of Bacon Deliciousness, hear the Dani Lynn Howe Band in all their Musical Wonderfulness, and See Celebrity Chef Judge Danielle Dimovski in all her World Bacon Champion Gloriousness!!! 

This event promises to be loads of fun, and it directly supports Churches United's Hunger and Shelter ministries, so please HELP US to HELP OTHERS by buying your tickets and joining us for a Bacon Blast!

Churches United - Bacon a difference in the Quad Cities!

DES MOINES, IA (02/19/2015)(readMedia)-- "We can all be proud of the hundreds of student athletes gathering in Des Moines this week for the IHSAA State Wrestling Tournament. Their hard work and efforts in reaching this gold standard is cause for celebration in their schools and communities. But back home, in the school districts they represent so proudly, budget decisions are forcing administrators to make untenable decisions pitting academic programs against athletics. Both programs are equally important to a student's successful development and growth.

Faced with the Iowa House Republicans passage and Governor Terry Branstad's support of 1.25 percent in State Supplemental Aid, the Clinton Community Schools, sending three student athletes to the state wrestling tournament, is proposing cutting one middle school wrestling coach; Tripoli, sending two student athletes, first proposed a $12,000 cut to their wrestling program, and is now proposing fewer student contact days in the 2015-16 school year going from 180 down to 170 and cutting the wrestling cheerleading program; and Waverly-Shell Rock, sending six student athletes and facing over $750,000 in budget cuts, is proposing slicing the librarian/media specialist, an integral position in our schools in the overall health and well being of academic development and success, among other drastic cuts.

Schools across the state are facing dire budget decisions because Governor Branstad and state legislators are not listening to their needs and have continued to support an anemic SSA proposal. We simply cannot have excellence in education and support our athletics and academics without a true commitment to that effort.

So while Governor Branstad is most likely following the wrestlers at this week's state tournament, we would like him to consider that schools should not have to decide between athletic or academic programs. We believe students deserve a well rounded education which includes an ample supply of both athletics and academics in order to truly give them what they need to succeed. Increasing SSA will help schools reach this goal."

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2015 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the United Kingdom's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) today announced five jointly funded research awards that total more than $2.3 million from NIFA and £2.3 million British pounds ($3,502,683 equivalent) from the BBSRC for the US-UK Collaborative Animal Health and Disease and Veterinary Immune Reagents program. This US-UK partnership addresses high impact diseases and animal health issues relevant to both countries.

"As a leading livestock producing nation, the health of the people in the United States and around the world depends on the safety, security, and quality of the livestock we produce," said Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA director. "These grants enable an international research partnership that looks to control the spread of pathogens, ensuring we can effectively reduce the health risks and environmental impacts of food production worldwide."

Steve Visscher, BBSRC Deputy Chief Executive, International, said: "A growing world population means that safe and secure food supplies are going to become more and more important in the years to come. The scale of such challenges require increased international collaboration, and this partnership of co-investment between BBSRC and NIFA will allow world-leading researchers in both countries to work together to combat livestock diseases and safeguard food supplies."

Global food supply and food security are directly affected by animal production and health. They play an important role in the economy, but also in the sustainability and growth of agriculture worldwide. Research funded through this program will look at the biological and physiological mechanisms in relation to disease prevention in ruminants (cattle, goat, sheep), swine, poultry, equine, and aquaculture species. Specifically, the projects will address the development of immune reagents, breeding for genetic resistance to disease, studying the ecology of diseases spread by vector insects, and developing improved vaccines. The discoveries made through these projects will improve animal health and well-being, enhance production efficiency, and support the safety of animal products by addressing challenges facing animal agriculture.

The USDA and BBSRC 2014 partnership concentrated on the following areas:

Animal health and disease:

• Research on emerging diseases and diseases of agriculturally relevant animals of high economic consequence in both the U.S. and U.K. (viral, bacterial, and parasitic diseases)
• Alternatives to current antimicrobials and anthelmintics used to treat disease in agricultural animals in both the U.S. and U.K.

Veterinary immune reagents:

• Development of publicly accessible immunological reagents for agriculturally-relevant animal species.

Fiscal year 2014 awards supported by USDA include :

• Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa., $499,999 - Host Resistance to Avian Pathogenic E. Coli (collaborative with the University of Edinburgh)
• Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., $499,995 - Control of Emerging Bunyaviruses (collaborative with the University of Glasgow)
• USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Md., $477,903 - Reassembly of Cattle Immune Gene Clusters for Quantitative Analysis
• USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Md., $500,000 - Swine Immune Toolkit: Development of new immune reagents for swine health, vaccine and disease studies (collaborative with the University of Bristol)
• USDA Agricultural Research Service, Athens Ga., $325,000 - Evolution of the High Pathogenicity Phenotype in Avian Influenza Virus (NIFA is supporting years 2 and 3 of this award with $325,000; ARS is supporting year 1 with $175,000.)

Fiscal year 2014 awards supported by BBSRC include :

• Swine Immune Toolkit: Development of new immune reagents for swine health, vaccine and disease studies. University of Bristol, £335,835 (collaborative with USDA ARS)
• Reassembly of cattle immune gene clusters for quantitative analysis. The Pirbright Institute, £478,615
• Control of emerging bunyaviruses. University of Glasgow, £597,187 (collaborative with Kansas State University)
• Host Resistance to Avian Pathogenic E. coli. The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, £521,083 (collaborative with Iowa State University)
• M2 gene splice variants in pathogenesis, transmission and induced immunity against highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, £461,362

More information on the BBSRC grants can be found on their website. Enter the project title into the search function.

NIFA funded the grants through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). AFRI is NIFA's flagship competitive grant program and was established under the 2008 Farm Bill. AFRI supports work in six priority areas: food safety, nutrition and health; plant health and production and plant products; animal health and production and animal products; bioenergy energy, natural resources and environment; agriculture systems and technology; and agriculture economics and rural communities.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit www.nifa.usda.gov.

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.

Funded by Government, BBSRC invested over £484M in world-class bioscience in 2013-14. We support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

For more information about BBSRC, our science and our impact see: www.bbsrc.ac.uk.

For more information about BBSRC strategically funded institutes see: www.bbsrc.ac.uk/institutes.

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