I recently noticed that there is more bad news than there is good news coming from the retail and restaurant sectors of our economy.

The losses in the 2nd quarter are worse than expected for Barnes & Noble.  WalMart’s profits are down and projections for the remainder of the year have been reduced.  The loses at J.C. Penny are double the projections.  And the profits at Bob Evans Restaurants are off 40% due to the rising cost of pork, operations, and employees. Also, a whopping 82% of restaurants, restaurant chain owners, and franchisees list the impending Obamacare and minimum wage law issues as their biggest worries keeping them from expansion.

It is Labor Day weekend!

In honor of the holiday and in tribute to your contributions and achievements … Happy Labor Day!

It is clear, based on the global recession we have been experiencing since 2008, that a great reset is underway. Many of us in our society are searching for new ways to work and live.

However, there have been two similar periods in American society over the past 150 years; perhaps we can learn from these previous resets to understand what trends will emerge.

In the U.S. there are more than 10,000 people a day turning 65 and living longer than ever.  Over the next 10 years, there will be 79 million people drawing on Social Security and at the mercy of Medicare.

Yet, many of us in this generation are not willing to rely on the established way of doing things.  We have decided to take a stand and enjoy every minute of the time we have left.

Today is the 4th of July and I want to wish all of my U.S. friends a very Happy Independence Day.

While you are enjoying family, friends, hot dogs or that charbroiled steak along with a great beer and fireworks, it is a good time to think about this being a holiday to 1) celebrate patriotism in America, 2) remember what struggles our Founding Fathers endured to provide us with freedoms that many take for granted, and 3) make an assessment of our own state of independence.