One of the most important things we can do to stay healthy, as we get older, is to control our weight. Most of us know that, but most of us also fall victim to “middle-age creep”, as the pounds creep on a pound or two every year, after we reach middle age.

Now a recent study from the University of Pittsburgh says that walking can go a long way in helping to control that extra weight. Researchers studied 3 groups of people. The first group was given general guidelines for exercise, which included moderate daily activity for 30 minutes a day. The second group was told to be active for about 30 minutes a day, plus they were given weekly classes on the importance of exercising. The third group was told to exercise 45 to 60 minutes a day, and they were given behavior modifications classes.

All of the study participants were told to eat a healthy diet but not to restrict the number of calories they ate. About 75% of all the participants chose to use walking for their exercise.

The results after 18 months? Averaged over the 3 groups, 40% of the folks in the study gained weight, about 7 pounds on average. These were primarily those people who did not exercise regularly. 60% lost weight, once again about 7 pounds. These were exclusively those who engaged in physical activity for about 40 minutes 5 to 7 days a week. That’s a 14 pound difference between the two groups, almost all attributable to exercise, primarily walking.

In another study, researchers at the University of North Carolina analyzed data on about 5,000 young adults over 15 years. They found that those who walked at least 2 hours each week gained about 9 pounds less than those who did not.

The results of these two studies are very clear. Time spent walking, or any other aerobic physical activity, is a very good retirement investment. It’s also a good investment of our time before we retirement so that we can stay healthy going into the retirement years.

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While choosing a retirement investment plan might be fairly easy if you have a sole proprietorship that brings in a limited amount of income, the more successful your small business is, the more choices become available and the more variables you must consider which will affect your decision.

For example, you may have incorporated your business, you could have employees, or you could be making an awful lot of money (don’t we wish!). You could also have a job, in addition to your business, or be over 50. All these variables, plus more, can significantly affect what self-employed retirement investing plan is best for you.

For the self-employed, Keogh plans are the equivalent of big time corporate retirement plans, like the pension plans our parents counted on. Keogh’s can be set up either as profit-sharing plans or defined benefit pension plans

Annual contributions to a Keogh profit-sharing plan are based on a percentage of your self-employment income (or the salary you make as an employee of your own corporation) with a $44,000 cap on contributions.

On the other hand, if you choose a defined benefit pension plan, your contributions are based on your targeted retirement benefit. For example, if your goal is to get a $50,000 a year pension, your contributions will be based on what it will take to achieve that goal, including your income, your age, and the assumed return on your investments. (You can have a Keogh set up to give you as much as $175,000 a year.)

However, because you have a targeted goal, you have to contribute whatever it will take to achieve that goal. If you have a bad year, your contribution won’t decrease, no matter the effect on your income. The upside is that, if you haven’t done much retirement financial planning, are getting closer to retirement age, and are making really good money, the Keogh can be a way to catch up fast because it allows you to contribute so very much more to your retirement than any other retirement program.

Do keep in mind, though, that should you choose a Keogh and have employees, you will have to make contributions for them as well, which may affect the amount you’ll be able to set aside for yourself. So make sure you get professional advice before making your retirement investment planning choice.

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