Chef, caterer, pastry chef and restaurant cook are merely most familiar four options, but there are hundreds of jobs in food industry. You may want to consider preparing for positions in management as executive chef, or in sales as catering director or in administration in food and beverage management. Maybe you'll want to explore developing specialty products - a line of sauces or dressings, for example - for retail or wholesale markets. Maybe you'll want to become a restaurant consultant to entrepreneurs who want to start restaurants. There are also teaching opportunities in professional cooking schools. Still another option is food writing and editing for magazines and books devoted to food and cooking. The options are endless.

For any of these career directions, you'll find best preparation in an accredited school program - you'll come out with a certificate or a degree. This training will provide you with a lifelong basis for understanding quality raw ingredients, creating balance and pleasure in combined flavors and presenting a beautiful plate to diner. Yes, you keep learning on job, but culinary school gives you a base of knowledge to test and compare to new trends, new ingredients and your own creativity.

According to Social Security Administration 3.4 workers currently are working and paying into system for each retire who is collecting benefits. But in a recent report, Social Security Administration predicted that by year 2035, there will only be 1.9 people working for each retiree.

What does this all mean to you? First off, don’t count on Social Security as your

source of income for retirement. Save as much as you can during your working years.

To save, I suggest that you first maximize your investments in tax- deferred accounts. These may include 401k’s, IRAs ,SEP and 403b’s. Finally, contribute to your investment accounts regularly. While many people might find it difficult to make large lump-sum contributions to their investment accounts, a savings program that includes small systematic contributions certainly can help you build up a nest egg for retirement. Even in tough markets, as we are experiencing now; investing is a must, vehicle you choose should align with your risk tolerance.

That being said, no matter where you find yourself financially you must have a formula for success. Now is time to take control of your financial future, you must decide are you a Employee or a Employer. You will never have financial freedom working for someone else and history proves that over and over again. When studies are done on financially successful people one thing comes up time and time again- they all are in involved in Real Estate!