Since requiring nutrient information labels on food packages was instituted by the FDA, consumers have become a lot more savvy about the amounts of fat, fiber and protein that are contained in the calories they eat.

However, all these food labels have limited information and only give totals for a few basic categories with some information on vitamins and minerals. Do you want to know more? Want the lowdown on the amount of Lycopene in your hamburger? Do you know how much Lutein (shown to lower the risk of age-related macular degeneration) is in your homemade tuna noodle casserole?

The USDA has a neat little food checker that will give you detailed nutrition information on thousands of foods, both commercially prepared and as cooked at home. Check it out!

Note: You must have Javascript enabled on your brower to use this online tool.

What’s In The Foods You Eat Search Tool

CNN Money has published its list of the best places to retire for 2006. According to CNN Money, these are locations that have it all, green spaces, low taxes, and good health care.

Whether you are seeking culture, geographical beauty, a warm climate or enjoying outdoor activities like boating or fishing, one of these towns has exactly what you are looking for.

The top five are:

* Walla Walla, WA
* St. Simons Island, GA
* Prescott, AZ
* Holland, MI
* Williamsburg, VA

Read what makes each of these places a top pick at CNN Money dot com.

One one hand we hear the Baby Boomers are not planning on retiring at all.  On the other hand, we hear that they are all getting ready to flee the workplace simultaneously.  How can they both be true?  Perhaps the desire is there for retirement, but the funds are not.  It seems Baby Boomers have lived so much in the here and now that they don’t have the savings built up to kick back and relax at retirement.

Almost one in three boomers will lack money in retirement to pay for health care or long-term care, according to a study cited in a Minnesota Human Services Department report that’s part of Transform 2010, the first lap of the longer-range Project 2030. A risk index released recently by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College raises similar concerns. Thirty-five percent of early boomers and 44 percent of late boomers will be “at risk” at age 65 of maintaining a pre-retirement standard of living, the index reports.

For a generation that prides itself on being cool, that’s not cool at all.  In fact, this is very uncool.  This is a serious problem that is coming our way, and it is coming fast.  There is help, and although it won’t be easy, there are ways to fatten up that nest egg.  Reading this article is a good start - research your options and make the best decisions you can to increase your savings and secure your future.

Baby Boomers Lacking Retirement Savings 

Oh, the marketing experts are scrambling.  It is almost funny to watch them.  It must have been a hard switch - moving from attracting the disposable income of teenagers to going after the deeper pockets of Baby Boomers.  But with Boomers turning 60 this year, and one turning 60 every seven seconds, businesses want the spare change in their pockets.  Marketing is an exciting place to be right now!

The products we will be seeing range from the fun to the serious.  There are a variety of needs in the Boomer community; some are to assist with medical issues and others are for entertainment.  But all will cost the consumer and marketing experts know that and are eager to help.

One product is a game.  Called the “Ginko Memory Game,” it is, “about stimulating and activating vital memory centers in the brain. It connects to these particular questions like — tell a story about one of your favorite secret places.”  Another is aimed at correcting a problem that causes blindness in people over 50.  Novelios Pharmaceuticals is hoping to eliminate glaucoma.  “Our product is a glaucoma drug therapy that will have to go through the FDA approval process, but the technology is very encouraging in that it focuses on the root cause of glaucoma,” said Joseph Berryhill of the company.

Are these needs or wants?  Many are just things we want - things that will part us from the money in our wallets pretty quickly.  A cure for glaucoma?  That sounds like a wonderful idea.  But the others?  As always, the best advice for Boomers, and any other shopper is, “Buyer Beware!”

Meeting the Needs of Baby Boomers