June 25, 2017

Phased Retirement

What’s the number one question you should ask yourself if you are at the age most people consider leaving the work force? The answer to that could affect your lifestyle for years to come. Then- research into consumer behavior reveals why we choose to eat what we do, and how that behavior affects our weight, as we hear from a consumer behavior specialist.

Episode Segments:

InfoTrak: Phased Retitrement Catherine Collinson, President of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, a nonprofit private foundation talks about the option of “phased retirement,” in which an employee begins to gradually put in shorter work weeks. She said the strategy permits workers to test out retirement to see if they enjoy it and can afford it, and allows them to avoid tapping into Social Security or savings until truly necessary. She said many employers welcome it, because it allows the senior employee to mentor younger colleagues and the organization to retain institutional knowledge.
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InfoTrak: Slim By Design Brian Wansink, PhD is Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, and author of Slim By Design, Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life. Dr. Wansink discussed his research at Cornell, which examines how and why we make choices about the food we eat. He said the way a kitchen or other living environment is set up can encourage weight loss naturally. He outlined innovative but inexpensive steps restaurants, grocery stores and school cafeterias can make to encourage healthier dining choices
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InfoTrak: 29 Gifts At age thirty-five, Cami Walker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. As she battled depression about her illness, she received an uncommon prescription from an African medicine woman: Give to others for 29 days. She shared her story of finding small ways to help others, and how it made a dramatic difference in her own health and happiness in her book , 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life
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Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Catherine Colinson Catherine Collinson serves as President of the Transamerica InstituteSM and Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, and is a retirement and market trends expert and champion for Americans who are at risk for not achieving a financially secure retirement. Catherine oversees all research and outreach initiatives, including the Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey. With more than 15 years of retirement services experience, Catherine has become a nationally recognized voice on retirement trends for the industry. She has testified before Congress on matters related to employer-sponsored retirement plans among small business, which have featured the need to raise awareness of the Saver’s Credit among those who would benefit most from the important tax credit. Catherine is regularly cited by top media outlets on retirement-related topics. Her expert commentary has appeared in major publications, including: The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, Money, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Kiplinger’s, CBS MoneyWatch, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Employee Benefits News and HR Magazine. She has also appeared on PBS’ “Nightly Business Report,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace” and CBS affiliates throughout the country. Catherine speaks at major industry conferences each year, having appeared at events hosted by organizations including the Milken Institute, PSCA, LIMRA and PLANSPONSOR. She also authors articles published in leading industry journals, such as ASPPA, SPARK and PSCA. Catherine volunteers for a number of community organizations and currently serves as a Trustee for the California Science Center Foundation. She is also a member of the Scripps College Alumni Association, for which she has served as National Reunion Giving Chair and Chair of the Ellen Browning Scripps Society. Catherine is currently employed by Transamerica Retirement Solutions and serves as Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning. Since joining the organization in 1995, she has been instrumental in identifying and evaluating short- and long-term strategic growth initiatives, developing business plans and building infrastructure to support the company’s high-growth strategy. Prior to her employment at Transamerica, Catherine spent nearly a decade at The Walt Disney Company, serving in a number of information services and business planning posts. Catherine earned her bachelor’s degree in British and American literature at Scripps College, Claremont, California, and her master’s of business administration at the University of California, Irvine. Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies

Brian Wansink Brian Wansink is the John Dyson Professor of Marketing and the Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab in the Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He is the lead author of over 200 academic articles and books on eating behavior, including the best-selling Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (2006) along with Marketing Nutrition (2005), Asking Questions (2004), and Consumer Panels (2002). He earned his Ph.D. in Consumer Behavior at Stanford University (1990) and was marketing professor at the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College (1990–1994), the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (1994–1995), and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (1995–1997). He was the Julian Simon Faculty Scholar and Professor of Marketing, Nutritional Sciences and Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (1997–2005). After that, he moved to Cornell University as the John Dyson Endowed Chair at the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Wansink’s award-winning academic research on eating behavior, behavioral economics, and behavior change has been published in the world’s top marketing, medical, and nutrition journals. It contributed to the introduction of smaller “100 calorie” packages (to prevent overeating), the use of taller glasses in bars (to prevent the overpouring of alcohol), the use of elaborate names and mouth-watering descriptions in many chain restaurant menus (to improve enjoyment of the food), and the removal of 500 million calories from restaurants each year (via Unilever’s Seductive Nutrition program). These insights have been presented, translated, reported, and featured in television documentaries on every continent but Antarctica. From 2007-2009 Wansink was granted a leave-of-absence from Cornell to accept a White House appointment as Executive Director of the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, the Federal agency in charge of developing 2010 Dietary Guidelines and promoting the Food Guide Pyramid. As the Director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, Dr. Wansink and his team focus on developing and disseminating transforming solutions that help people eat better. The lab’s research has driven the creation of the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement and the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (BEN) – two programs devoted to the funding, conduction, and dissemination of research concerning children’s health. In his spare time, Dr. Wansink enjoys watching action/horror movies, playing the saxophone, and listening to Vanilla Ice’s hit song Ice, Ice, Baby. Brian's Website

Cami Walker Cami Walker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2006. Two years later she created the 29-Day Giving Challenge community. She has continued her own giving cycle every month since. She lives in Hollywood, CA with her husband, Mark. Cami's Website