Security Benefit Offers a Dozen Specific Tips to help Prepare for Retirement

“12 For ‘12” From America’s Retirement Income Company

Topeka, KS, January 20, 2012 - With 2011, coming to a close, Security Benefit Corporation, a Guggenheim Partners Company, looks forward to the New Year with its “12 FOR ‘12” -- A Dozen Specific Tips to Help Prepare for Retirement.

“While most Americans will be spending 20 years or so in retirement, less than half of us are actively considering how much we’ll need to save for that reality,” says Jim Mullery, President of Security Distributors, Inc., Security Benefit’s distribution company. “We’re offering up these dozen tips to at least get folks thinking about retirement planning.”

12 Retirement Tips For 2012

1) DETERMINE WHEN YOU’RE GOING TO RETIRE – This is typically the foundation for an individual’s preparation and planning. Your date and plans can change, of course, but setting a date is the starting point from which other retirement planning happens.

2) TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR RETIREMENT SAVINGS – And it doesn’t matter whether you’re facing impending retirement or you have decades left. There’s no guarantee that Social Security benefits won’t be reduced or the retirement age raised. And many companies are phasing out their pension plans.

3) CALCULATE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU’LL NEED – Many experts suggest that you will need about 70 percent of your pre-retirement income. But even then, could you really afford to take a 30 percent cut in your income when you retire? Take advantage of the many free tools offered by retirement product providers to help fine-tune your estimate.

4) DON’T IGNORE FREE MONEY – Employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k)s are some of the best deals around. These savings plans allow you to make pre-tax contributions and you don't have to pay taxes on the contributions and earnings until the funds are withdrawn. Better yet, many employers will match a portion of your contributions.

5) ANTICIPATE LIFESTYLE CHANGES – Explore how your life might change after you retire. You may not need two family cars. You may be able to retire to a smaller home in a less expensive area. You may also be able to cut back on wardrobe. Healthcare, travel and hobby expenses will probably increase.

6) MAKE SMALL SACRIFICES – Little things really add up over time. Assuming an 8% annual effective rate of return, giving up these perks could translate to numbers like this in 30 years:???

1 movie date per week = $96,692?

1 latte per day = $253,817?

1 family dinner out per week = $483,461

Assumes ongoing contributions and 26 pay periods per year. Price assumptions: 2 movie tickets at $10 each, latte at $3.75, family dinner at $50. Assumes 4% inflation of prices each year. There is no guarantee these figures will be attainable in the future. Returns are not indicative of the performance of any specific investment. Investments are subject to market risk and may lose value.

7) DON’T TOUCH YOUR RETIREMENT SAVINGS – Many people turn to their retirement savings to help them when they’re in a financial bind. Do everything you can to leave your retirement savings intact.

8) MANAGE YOUR MONEY WELL – Build an emergency fund, pay down debt, participate in your retirement plan at work, consider other ways to save money, if you’ve changed jobs consider a rollover of your retirement savings into a self-directed IRA.

9) TAKE IT WITH YOU – If you find a new job, don’t make the mistake of cashing out your 401(k) plan, no matter how small the balance.

10) BUILD A PORTFOLIO THAT WORKS FOR EVERY STAGE OF YOUR LIFE – To make sure you're on track across the phases of life, it's important to regularly review the performance of the assets in your portfolio. Investing for retirement that’s several decades away is much different than retirement that’s right around the corner.

11) DIVERSIFYING IS SMART AT ANY LIFE STAGE – Your asset allocation will probably change as you move through different life stages, such as when you're ready to buy a home, become a parent, send a child to college, and so on.

12) PLAN FOR TOMORROW TODAY! –?The sooner you get started the greater your chances of obtaining your retirement goals. A valuable action that can help you have the kind of retirement you long for is to meet with your plan representative or personal financial advisor at least once a year.

Security Benefit, which provides retirement and investment solutions through independent financial representatives around the country, offers a number of retirement planning calculators and other planning tools at www.securityretirement.com.

About Security Benefit:

Security Benefit, a Guggenheim Partners Company, is a leading provider of retirement plan services throughout the nation, offering a variety of compelling and customized fixed and variable annuity products. The firm’s se2 division is an award-winning and nationally recognized provider of administrative services for the insurance and financial services industry. To learn more, go to www.securitybenefit.com.

About Guggenheim Partners:

Guggenheim Partners, LLC is a privately held global financial services firm. The firm provides investment management, investment banking and capital markets services as well as insurance and investment advisory solutions for institutions, corporations, governments and agencies, investment advisors, family offices and individuals. Guggenheim Partners is headquartered in New York and Chicago and serves clients from more than 25 offices in nine countries.

DISCLOSURES:

Annuities are long-term investments suitable for retirement planning

In all states except New York, annuities are issued by Security Benefit Life Insurance Company (SBL). In New York, annuities are issued by First Security Benefit Life Insurance and Annuity Company of New York (FSBL), Rye Brook, NY. SBL is not authorized in and does not transact the business of insurance in NY. Securities are distributed by Security Distributors, Inc, a subsidiary of SBL. SBL and FSBL are affiliates and wholly owned by Security Benefit Corporation (“Security Benefit”). Security Benefit is indirectly controlled by Guggenheim Partners, LLC.

Contact:

Laura Parsons

CSG PR

3225 East 2nd Avenue

Denver, CO 80206

303-887-2911

lparsons@csg-pr.com

http://www.csg-pr.com

Ace Hood to Rock the Mic Live at Baja Beach Club in Tallahassee, FL

Block Business Entertainment in Collaboration With CCA Present Ace Hood Live

Tallahassee, FL, January 20, 2012 - With a slew of chart topping hits and a brand all his own, Florida Emcee Ace Hood is back to light up the stage at Tallahassee's very own Baja Beach Club on Thursday, January 19, 2012. The live show comes compliments of Block Business Entertainment in partnership Capital Connections Agency, The School Boyz and Showtime Promotions. The event is being held at the Baja Beach Club and fans are ready to come out and enjoy a night of hard hitting, head bobbing music from the hardest hustler in the Hip-Hop game Ace Hood.

Ace Hood is excited about the show and has been promoting it via twitter at: @Acehood dot He's also produced a video drop inviting fans to come out to enjoy his live show http://vimeo.com/35237868 There will be no shortage of ladies at his performance because ladies get in free and drink for free until 11PM dot VIP and Bottle Service is available as well as advance to ticket purchase at 813-507-4223 or 850-264-1179 dot Tickets can be purchased at the following locations: C dot Line Fashions, Clippers, Bella Donas, Tee's Plus, Livin In and Big Mikes Car Wash dot

To Date Ace Hood has been named one of the Freshmen of 09 by XXL Magazine and has released 3 albums. Breakthrough singles for Ace Hood include; "Body 2 Body" "Cash Flow" featuring T-Pain and Rick Ross, "Ride" featuring Trey songs "Ace Won't Fold", DJ Khaled's single "Out Here Grindin" "Overtime feat. Akon" "Loco Wit The Cake" and his smash hit single "Hustle Hard" just to name a few. Baja Beach Club is located at 2020 West Pensacola St. Tallahassee, FL. and Doors open at 10:00PM. If your in Tallahassee and looking to see a great Hip-Hop show come check out Ace Hood live at Baja Beach Club.

About Capital Connection Agency:

CCA boasts a very successful track record booking major talent for events from coast to coast and all across the globe. Capital Connections' pool of A-list talent turns the night life into a real cash cow for club owners and venues every year. CCA has location on both the East and West Coast, Paris, Spain and in Canada. CCA has been providing talent for over a decade and they do not plan to stop offering quality talent any time soon. You can find more information about Capital Connection Agency at: 1-866-785-1117 http://www.capitalconnectionsagency.com or Durby.Brandon@capitalconnectionagency.com

Contact:

Darnell Clark

Image Makers Media Group, LLC

646 Antone Street

Atlanta, GA 30318

412-353-9240

Dclark@imagemakersmedia.com

http://www.capitalconnectionsagency.com

20th Anniversary of World Scientists Warning to Humanity

In 1992, 1,700 Nobel laureates and world leading scientists issued an appeal to the world to stop destroying the environment. Failing to do so, they said, would jeopardize all life on the planet. Humanity has failed to listen.

Jacksonville, FL, January 19, 2012 - In 1992, 1,700 world leading scientists, including the majority of Nobel laureates, issued an appeal to the human race. They said the human race was on a collision course with the natural world. Human activities were inflicting irreversible damage on the environment and critical resources. If not stopped, the activities seriously risk the future of human society and all life on earth as we know it. They made this appeal based on humanity's response to the Club of Rome report.

In 1968, the Club of Rome was formed by a group of academic, diplomatic and industrial professionals to discuss SHORT-TERM THINKING in international affairs and the impact it was causing on society. Using private money, they created a computer program to model human society. A wide variety of scenarios were tested to explore how the environment, industry and society would respond to high, medium and low levels of population, food production, technology improvement, capital infusion and other variables. The results of the computer runs were startling! The book "Limits to Growth" was published in 1972 to describe their findings.

They found that, for every scenario, human society was facing a drastic collapse between 2010 and 2060 unless radical reductions to population increase and natural resource consumption were made immediately ( i.e. 1972 ). The response by society to these predictions was just as startling. Consistent with their original concerns, prominent economists, scientists and political leaders denounced the study. The needed reductions were ignored. A 1992 update to the book reassessed how the planet was doing in comparison to the 1972 models. For many variables, things were going worse than the worst-case models. The anticipated arrival of the collapses was advanced. Leading world scientists responded by signing a petition to world governments to take immediate action. Their warning was again ignored.

There is no longer any need to wait to see if the predictions were true. The collapses have begun. Yet, humanity's assault on the planet continues to grow worse. The planet's weather is radically changing; hurricanes are growing in strength; rain bands are shifting, turning once verdant crop areas into deserts. 90% of the fish in the oceans and natural wild life on land have been depleted. Massive starvations are starting: over 30,000 children every day. Arctic ice is melting, removing huge weight from landmasses like Greenland and transporting that weight around the globe as oceans rise. This causes crustal plates to tilt, leading to earthquakes. Major natural resources are approaching depletion. Oil production has passed its peak and is decreasing. Wood for cooking for billions of people has been wiped out. Fresh water and major metal mining can no longer keep up with needs. The list goes on and on and on.

20 years have now passed since that warning. But the public remains in broad denial. Narrow minded politicians continue to press for endless growth. Control of government has been taken by the investment banks and industry leaders creating the largest class of "robber barons" in history. New warnings come from every direction as we watch world populations begin to starve, including almost 30% of the children in the U.S.. Yet the blind greed of the elite permits the catastrophe to continue. Why? There is a very sinister answer. We call it "human nature". Unfortunately, the psychology driving human nature has never been accurately understood. The faults of current government structures and possible solutions have never before been accurately described. Finally, there are answers that pull the whole picture together. The answers are summarized at A3society.org and presented in the new book series by Bruce Nappi called LIARS! The warning from the world scienti sts is shown there on the links page in both text and video form. Don't accept the lies anymore!

About Bruce Nappi:

Explorer, philosopher and Jacksonville, Florida author, Bruce Nappi, has just released two volumes of his new book series LIARS! The books present over 40 major discoveries that answer many of the most critical unanswered questions of the ages, including why we have so much chaos and strife in modern society. Difficult psychological and philosophical discoveries are explained using everyday language in a readable, exciting novel format. The discoveries affect every part of our culture, making the books interesting and valuable reading for everyone who seeks understanding and improvement for today's society.

The books -- LIARS! Vol. 1: Scout to the Pole; and Vol. 2: Escape to Insanity -- are based on Nappi's experience as one of the Eagle Scouts on the 1965 North Pole Expedition. They present an "Atlas Shrugged" philosophical romp through a 3 Stooges run government research world, challenging the most fundamental beliefs of human culture. The coming of age saga is filled with amazing true-life adventures expanded by the insights of 40 years in the rough and tumble world of high tech business intrigue. A life threatening climax in volume 2 finally creates a setting to pull together all the wisdom and lay out a broad and comprehensive explanation for many of the problems modern society can't seem to understand.

Ultimately, the reader will learn how public statements claiming to represent broad "public opinion", are predominantly the voice of a small elite minority intent on maintaining superiority. Mankind's greatest social institutions: government, religion, science, education, law, medicine, and even the U.S. Constitution, are challenged and shown to be corrupt. A unified structure emerges which becomes the basis for a new social structure for mankind.

Contact

Bruce Nappi - Nanook *at* A3society *dot* org

A3society.org A3societyblog.org

The books are summarized online at A3society.org. The books are available in print at WordClay: http://www.wordclay.com/BookStore/BookStoreSearchResults.aspx?SearchType=smpl&SearchTerm=nappi

and as ebooks at Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Nappi

Contact:

Bruce Nappi

A3 Society

3832 Baymeadows Rd. Suite 164

Jacksonville, FL 32217

339-222-8467

nanook@A3society.org

http://A3society.org

My Shadow And I Set to Release New Cd “Summer Cycle” on January 24 2012

Philadelphia Based Musician Brad Podray Explores the Many Moods of the ‘Summer Cycle’ on his Latest Electronic New Age Recording

Hollywood, CA, January 20, 2012 - Summertime and the musical living is easy—well, most of the time on Summer Cycle, the dynamic full length follow-up to Winter Cycle, the 2010 solo piano EP by My Shadow and I, an electronic new age project created by multi-talented Philadelphia based musician Brad Podray.

Melodic, richly textured and film score lush, Summer Cycle is an eclectic ten track chronicle of the powerful transitions and emotional breakthroughs that come months after the heartbreaking but necessary end of a relationship. A natural extension of “Bliss (End of the Winter Cycle),” the final track of the otherwise stark earlier album, the new album is released on Podray’s independent label Nonexistent Recordings.

Summer Cycle’s overriding theme of emergence matches that of Podray’s increasing presence as a force in contemporary instrumental music after years of eclectic performing and recording experiences in numerous other genres—among them, industrial metal, “Pirate rap,” alt rock and down tempo trip hop. While the Florida born musician’s rock influences range from Meat Loaf to Nine Inch Nails, his chief inspirations for his solo piano and electronic/symphonic works are Brian Eno, Danny Elfman and famed new age pianist David Lanz, whose encouraging words about the Eno-influenced self titled My Shadow and I debut led Podray to further develop his vision in this genre.

Podray had his hands full academically and creatively when sat down at his keyboard in 2009 to create the first My Shadow and I project. Having just graduated from dental school at the University of Pennsylvania, his days were consumed with his orthodontic residency at Temple University in his adopted home town of Philadelphia. At night, he let loose in two very unique bands, the pirate rap group Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew and the downtempo trip-hop ensemble Echo Slightly—both with his best friend from high school and longtime musical collaborator Daniel Dolan. Podray had recorded numerous albums with those and other groups over the past few years (18 in all!), and even released three projects by the indie band Finding Jupiter on his label. But looking ahead, he spent his rare down time creating music he could one day use to soothe patients when he launched his own practice as an orthodontist—which he did in late 2010.

By that time, he had independently released Winter Cycle, most of whose pieces were composed about the impending end and then the aftermath of a relationship. Its piano-heavy focus reflects what he calls a sad time in his life. While the piano is still a dominant melodic voice of Summer Cycle, the project’s deeper, more evolved production textures are one of the ways Podray creates a healing, optimistic counterpoint to the stark heartbreak of winter.

Even as Summer Cycle begins rolling out, Podray is working on another ambitious project under the name Maximalism—a concept he calls the more aggressive version of My Shadow and I, with high energy distorted guitars and even more synthesizers. His is a constantly flowing creative musical mind that has no boundaries or simple genres to get entangled in for long. “My Shadow and I and Maximalism are solo projects that show a different side of my personality,” he says. “One is calm yoga-type music while the other finds me going as crazy as I can get. With both projects, I love being able to fill a sonic space without having to figure out where to fit the words in.”

Official Website: http://www.myshadowandi.com

For more information on My Shadow and I, please contact Chip Schutzman at Miles High Productions: chip@mileshighproductions.com or 323-806-0400.

Contact:

Chip Schutzman

Miles High Productions

P.O. Box 93157

Hollywood, CA 90093

323-806-0400

chip@mileshighproductions.com

http://www.mileshighproductions.com/

Hadassah Medical Center to Honor Local Artist Stephanie Levine at CELL-A-BRATE

Local artist Stephanie Levine and her mother, Maddie, will be honored at the Hadassah Medical Center’s 6th annual CELL-A-BRATE event on Saturday, January 28, 2012 in Baltimore, MD.

Baltimore, MD, January 18, 2011 - Local artist Stephanie Levine and her mother, Maddie, will be honored at the Hadassah Medical Center’s 6th annual CELL-A-BRATE event on Saturday, January 28, 2012 in Baltimore, MD. The Hadassah Medical Center pioneers stem cell research to improve and potentially cure the lives of people suffering from debilitating diseases and conditions. The Hadassah Medical Center created the CELL-A-BRATE event to help raise awareness and funds for the significant costs associated with stem cell research.

Stephanie Levine is a Baltimore, MD based artist, producing mixed media works that incorporates crayons and pastels into her paintings. Hadassah chose Ms. Levine because of her significant achievements as a person with a disability. Although Stephanie was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and has been wheelchair bound her entire life, she has lived an active life, first working for Marriott, then as a volunteer at Port Discovery, and most recently as an artist.

Although Stephanie has always loved art, she originally doubted her ability. It wasn’t until her life coach, Ilyse Delanoy, had her work with an art therapist that Ms. Levine began creating work consistently. Since then, she lives by her motto, “You can’t stop me now!” She has created 15 new mixed media paintings since May 2011. Some of Stephanie’s work is reminiscent of the style of one of her favorite artists, Vincent van Gogh. Her creations reflect her creative, warm, and adventurous personality. Stephanie has her work reproduced onto notecards.

Stephanie donates all the proceeds from the sales of her cards to the Kennedy Krieger Institute, a Baltimore, MD based organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities and brain disorders. When asked why she donates all of her proceeds to Kennedy Krieger, Stephanie responded, “I started going there when I was very young because I was born with Cerebral Palsy and have been seen there for a very long time. Dr. Sadowsky is my doctor there and she really cares about me and I want to give back to them as a thank you.”

In addition to painting, Stephanie is passionate about helping others and loves music. Her goals are to live an independent life, to be on TV, and to inspire other people with disabilities to express their personalities and expand their capabilities through art.

To get more information about meeting Stephanie Levine at the Hadassah Medical Center’s upcoming CELL-A-BRATE event and to donate to this worthy organization, call (410) 484-9590 or go to their website at: www.baltimore.hadassah.org. Art lovers who are interested in purchasing Stephanie’s art notecards can write to her at maddielevine@gmail.com and follow her on her Facebook fan page at: https://www.facebook.com/PaintPrintsbyStephanie

Stephanie Levine is a Baltimore, MD based artist, producing mixed media works that incorporates crayons and pastels into her paintings. As a talented artist diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and having been wheelchair bound her entire life, Stephanie is passionate about helping others with disabilities express themselves through art.

Contact:

Doug Dolan

1501 St. Paul Street

Suite 113

Baltimore, MD 21202

(928) 273-5069

doug@incitecreativeinc.com

http://www.incitecreativeinc.com