The co-founders and entrepreneurs behind Two Degrees Food, a company that produces nutritional bars and feeds children across the world, have used one of their best assets to maximize their reach: a 35-year age difference.

Lauren Walters, 60, and Will Hauser, 25, teamed up to found Two Degrees in 2010, a move that Walters said strengthens their ability to tackle everything from solving business problems to embracing social media.

“It’s interesting to think of it as a ‘model’; I think it’s just sort of evolved,” said Walters, a seasoned entrepreneur and chairman of The Concord Consortium, a nonprofit research and development organization based in Concord, Massachusetts. “I think as we’ve been building this business for the past year and a half, these complementary perspectives make us more effective in delivering on the promise of connecting a range of people.”

Their vegan, gluten-free nutritional bars are sold at Whole Foods chains across the U.S. as well as in coffee shops, gyms, museums, hospitals, a number of large corporations (including HP, Cisco, Microsoft, GE and AOL) and will be available at college Barnes & Noble stores in October. The company uses the “one-for-one” model – meaning for every bar purchased, a nutrition pack is sent to a needy child in a developing country.

Two Degrees has donated nearly 45,000 nutritional packs to its partners in Malawi, Kenya, Somalia and Haiti. The packs are sourced from local manufacturers in whichever countries they are to be distributed. (One of their purchasing partners is Valid Nutrition in Malawi, where peanut, sugar and oil is sourced from local farmers and factories.)

Hauser, a Harvard graduate and former Goldman Sachs analyst, said although the inter-generational model alone cannot explain the success of their business, “the range of customers and retailers that have gotten behind Two degrees is tremendous.”

Melinda Emerson, a business expert and author of “Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months”, said a common reason why small businesses fail is not having a network to sell to.

The main reason, she said, is lack of a mature business plan in favor of leading “fantasies of grandeur.”

“I think it’s very emotionally intelligent on the part of young innovators to partner with more seasoned professionals because there’s a lot of ways to be a fool in business and one of them is not valuing other people’s experience,” Emerson said.

The “boomerang generation”– young adults who live at home with their parents — are increasingly turning to mom and dad for further financial support. But will caring for your adult children jeopardize your retirement security?

“We’ve managed by creating a timeline that says OK, we can postpone our retirement vision to make sure their lives start out on track,” Amrein says.

Although he feels the financial stresses many baby boomers face to support their children — from paying college fees to handling everyday expenses — Amrein is luckily able to balance financial obligation with fiscal prudence. He’s a financial adviser.

“I have a niche in college funding, so I do a lot of analysis work for parents that are going through this,” says Amrein, principal at Amrein Financial. “One of the things that I do is create a timeline to make sure that they understand when the last child will come out of school and how long they have to recover, so it’s their choice whether they want to lighten the burden on their children or (draft) their priorities from a financial goal standpoint.”

In a study released by TD Ameritrade, 41 percent of young adults admitted to relying on their parents for financial support after college, which could likely derail their parents’ retirement plans. Forty-two percent of baby boomers surveyed said taking their children back into the home had a negative impact on their finances.

“We’ve seen clients spending up to $20,000 a month on their children after they’ve finished college, and they come home and aren’t doing a whole lot,” says Alan Moore, financial planning analyst with Kahler Financial Group. ” It’s killing their parents financially, and we see this with clients more often than I’d like to admit.”

Moore says that although lack of a formal child-parental agreement is partly to blame for an increase in financial strain, the poor job market is also cause for family finance woes.

“It’s a zero-sum game for the parents of these Gen Y children: they’re taking away from their taxable account savings — their money outside of retirement accounts — and they’re helping with down payments, they’re helping their kids start businesses or they’re helping them buy a home or pay for expensive post-graduate school,” said Steve Curley, director at Water Oak Advisors.  “What this is doing is significantly increasing the risk of not meeting their retirement goals and they are, in essence, having to take more risk in their investment portfolios to seek a higher expected return to offset the fact that they have less savings.”

Curley said that since some Gen Yers are “not as motivated” as their parents, they may have the false expectation that attending a “big name” school with big tuition fees correlates with getting a big job after graduation.

“I think there’s a macroeconomic reality that people are coming out of young adulthood with more debt on their balance sheet,” said Lule Demmissie, managing director of investment products and retirement at TD Ameritrade. “There is definitely a generational difference in the way the boomers are willing to support their child versus other generations before them.”

While Demmissie does recognize some financial constraints facing the American family, she stresses the importance for parents to redraft their retirement goals realistically without throwing out the entire blueprint. In other words, if you’re nearing retirement, you should be wary about taking on any debt — which is even more difficult considering college-bound students’ increasing demands to attend prestigious schools.

“Fifty-six percent of teens that we surveyed said that ‘big-name’ prepared them better for the workplace than state schools,” said Stuart Rubinstein, managing director of client engagement for TD Ameritrade. While demand for prestigious schools such as Harvard or Yale increases, so too will aggregate student debt. (While almost all respondents age 14 to 19 said they intended to go to college, only 15 percent of them said big name schools are not worth the cost.)

What does all of this mean?

Well, you may consider putting your retirement plans on ice to support your children. Aside from setting up savings and 529 plans to plan for your child’s education, reconsider whether it’s worth it to dip into your own future.

“If you take out more from the pot, you’ll have less at the end of the rainbow,” Demmissie said.

There are currently more than 270 private colleges and universities across the nation that participate in the Tuition Plan Consortium, a network that allows you to pay for future tuition and fee costs in current dollars while retaining their value for 30 years.

While a regular 529 college tuition plan usually carries some exposure to volatile markets, the national Tuition Plan Consortium is simply a contractual obligation for any college or university participating in the network to honor your prepaid tuition plan. In other words, you can minimize your market risk.

“Especially for today’s savers, prepaying tuition is not an investment so you don’t have to worry about fluctuations in the market,” says Nancy Farmer, president of Tuition Plan Consortium, a not-for-profit organization that sponsors the Private College 529 Plan.

“When you open an account with us, you don’t have to worry about what’s happening with the market, you don’t have to worry about what’s happening with tuition inflation; our schools take the risk.”

This means if you open an account with $25,000, you own $25,000 worth of tuition at any of the participating schools and do not need to commit to any one school until admissions, effectively keeping your beneficiary’s options open.

If your beneficiary wishes to enroll at a school that does not participate in the prepaid tuition program, and it does not want to join the consortium, you can rename the beneficiary or roll your Private College 529 Plan into a regular 529 plan without risk of tax liability (though you might suffer an earnings/losses penalty of about plus/minus two percent).

“We’re not a security; you’re not going to make a whole lot of money if you prepay tuition and don’t use it at one of the schools, but you’re also not going to lose much either,” says Farmer, noting that prepaying tuition also protects you on the down side.

Curious about purchasing power? Here’s what $25,000 in prepaid tuition in 2011 can buy you for the next 30 years:

- more than half a year at Vassar College

- nearly two-thirds of a year at University of Chicago

- two-thirds of a year at Amherst College

- more than two-thirds of a year at Stanford University

- nearly one year at Spelman College

The deadline for prepaying tuition and fees at 2010/2011 rates is June 30, 2011.

For a list of participating colleges and universities, or to inquire about how to purchase prepaid certificates, visit privatecollege529.com.

Still denied: How community colleges shortchange students by not offering federal loans, a study released last week by the Institute for College Access & Success, finds that more than one million students across 31 states do not have access to student loans from the federal government, a low-interest lender.

“Federal student loans should always be considered before relying on credit cards to get by or taking out a private student loan or resorting to payday lenders,” said Debbie Cochrane, program director at the Institute for College Access & Success, which is an independent, nonprofit group. Cochrane is primary author of the report.

The Institute found that about nine percent of students enrolled in community colleges don’t have access to federal student loans, and in some states, the majority of students enrolled in community college do not have access.

“Federal financial aid programs, both grants and loans, are there to make sure that students from all backgrounds can afford to cover college costs,” she continued. “When colleges opt out of the loan program and don’t make that option available to students, it undermines the goal of the program: making college affordable.”

As of July 2010, all federal student loans must be administered through the Federal Direct Loan Program. Although only 13 percent of community college students borrowed money under the federal student loans program through their college in 2007-08, the national default rate over three years is 25 percent or higher the national default rate is seven percent while schools that exceed 25 percent for three consecutive years can face harsher penalties — making some schools a little apprehensive to offer federal aid.

“Twenty-five percent is a very high default rate but because many of the community colleges serve low-income students, they are much more likely to have students who default on loans if they borrow,” said Mark Kantrowitz, financial expert and publisher of FinAid and Fastweb student scholarship sites. Kantrowitz suggests saving for college instead, “given that the community colleges are among the lowest-cost institutions.”

Attending community college for two or three years to finish required courses before applying to a four-year degree granting institution is also ill-advised.

In the 2008 study, Do community colleges provide a viable pathway to a baccalaureate degree?, authors Bridget Long and Michal Kurlaender found that students are 14.5 percent less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree within nine years if they begin their studies at a community college.

“The average debt at graduation for someone who starts out at a two-year school and gets their degree is about $6,500 less than if you start at a four-year institution,” Kantrowitz notes. “However, you’re much less likely to obtain your degree.”

Other highlights from the Institute for College Access & Success report include the following:

- At 57 percent, North Carolina currently has the largest share of community college students without access to federal student loans.

- Although 9.2 percent of students lack federal student loans nationally, African-American and Native-American students lack 16.4 and 18.5 percent respectively.

- The national default rate has been at least 25 percent in three consecutive years seven percent for two consecutive years. Institutions with default rates at 25 percent or higher over three years lose loan and grant eligibility for three years (it is expected to reach at least 30 percent by 2014).

(This post was corrected to reflect national default rate at seven percent and the national default rate threshold for sanctions at 25 percent, expected to increase to 30 percent within three years)

According to the newly-released study called Shedding Light on Retirement, 55 percent of Americans don’t know how to achieve their retirement goals.

The ING-sponsored study, which polled 2,630 retirement investors, also revealed that while Americans want to be in control of their money, they’re also overwhelmed because of lack of guidance.

In an interview with Reuters, Lynne Ford, CEO of ING Individual Retirement, pointed out some of the major take-home points from the survey.

Looking at the big picture, what exactly does this survey tell us?

A: It tells us a couple of things. We’ve seen for many years now that Americans are getting the fact that they are responsible and accountable for providing for their retirement. The two new things that come out of this survey are, first, just the overwhelming sense of confusion and anxiety people have about getting it done. They say, ‘We don’t have a roadmap, we don’t have a recipe,’ and there are so many moving parts (to investing) because people are saving at the work site and then they’re saving away from the work site.

The second thing that’s interesting about the survey is that it really points to a paradox. The American participant has conflicting desires: they want to be in total control of their money and they want to be empowered to do it their way, but then they’re also saying ‘We don’t have a roadmap and we don’t have the guidance.’ So this paradox around wanting control but needing advice is where we’re finding people today. I think it’s good news because it means people are moving down this path of accountability.

So, does this mean Americans need to nurse themselves back to financial health?

A: I do think that Americans have the sense that the retirement system has changed and it dumped the responsibility on them, and that somehow they should be smart enough to be figure it all out. We, of course, don’t profess to be our own doctors, we don’t profess to fly planes without taking lessons. And so this notion of finding someone who you can trust to provide you with advice is a really important thing. Investors can get advice and they can interview people, they don’t have to go with the first person that they talk to. Much like if you had a medical issue, make sure you do your due diligence.

What are some of the easiest ways to save for retirement?

A: The 401(k) is the first and best place to start. It’s simple and easy because it comes out of your payroll. Also, in many cases, your employer matches your contribution. The second place is to supplement with IRAs. Anyone can contribute to an IRA on an after-tax basis and then benefit from the compounded growth over time. The younger you are when you start, you can actually pay less on a monthly basis and still see that tax deferral work for you over time. Then, depending on how much you think you need, you might think about saving in non-qualified formats like brokerage accounts.

Can you suggest a good behavioral retirement savings tip?

A: There’s a lot of inertia, so we’re strong advocates of auto-enrollment contributions. These have demonstrated to be effective ways to enable participants along the way to get into the 401(k) plan and then to increase their contributions to the maximum match level.

Where did most respondents turn to for their financial guidance?

A: (The workplace) is the place that consumers have said that they first want to go to because they’re thinking about it when they’re at work. I think that’s one of the things that, as a provider of planned sponsors, is helping employers be the best employers; they were the ones who were providing the pension benefits and they were really in the driver’s seat, but now it’s the participants. So many times, the participant will turn to their employer with questions about how their money works.

What exactly is the Retire with ING interactive?

A: We spent a lot of time doing consumer research for the website and to make sure we got the language right so it was clear and simple. We developed RetireWithING.com in a way to empower the individuals who are in that paradox so they can see themselves in there. We know that consumers recoil from a one-size-fits-all because their retirement is unique to them.

Whereas professional investors have more resources at their disposal to hedge, the average investor could be left in the dust — especially during a time where political unrest and crises are cause for big market swings in futures and currencies.

Individual retail investors “are the minnow in the shark tank; they might get some crumbs, but they’re playing with some really big, really aggressive players,” says Rick Brooks, vice-president of investment management at Blankinship & Foster. Brooks notes that while retail investors may trade anywhere from a few thousand to maybe a million dollars, professional traders are trading hundreds of millions of dollars a day, if not a minute, and are therefore privy to critical information.

“The retail investor cannot stand up against that kind of trading volume,” he continued. “If they’re lucky, they’ll fly under the radar and they might make some profitable trades, but generally speaking these guys are moving very large amounts of money and the retail investor is just going to be along for the ride.”

For investors who travel often or who get paid for work in another currency, dual exposure could actually be a good hedging mechanism since it provides insulation from day-to-day currency fluctuations. Great ways to do this include foreign property investments and buying ETFs or mutual funds in that currency.

George Middleton, financial adviser for Limoges Investment Management, says it’s easier for larger firms to better hedge and make riskier bets based on economic conditions because of their stake in multiple currencies. He says trading currencies can be beneficial to a retail investor if you’re looking for a longer-term investment.

“I own multiple currencies, but I buy them with the intent of holding on to them and it’s because of my concern for the U.S. dollar,” Middleton says. “If I thought the dollar was going to go up, I wouldn’t be holding other currencies.”

If you are going to trade currencies, here are five simple ways to hedge your bets:

* Open a bank account in a foreign currency. That way you can avoid unnecessary buy/sell exchange fees and capitalize on a larger spread.

* Consider competitive currencies. The Canadian dollar hit its highest level against the American dollar on April 1 while the Swiss franc is also relatively stable.

* Buy secure investments like ETFs or mutual funds. Some banks, like EverBank, allow you to buy CDs in other currencies as well.

* PIMCO bond funds are considerably stable and offer some currency exposure. The most notable is the PIMCO Total Return, America’s largest mutual fund with $237 billion in assets.

* Look into managed futures funds that blend commodity trading with currencies.

If you still want to place your bets with direct currency trading, it’s important to know that initial success does not necessarily guarantee future success.

“I think it’s a fool’s gold if you’re successful initially,” Middleton says. “The winds change very, very quickly and you could be caught heading the wrong way.”

Investors are increasingly turning to their mobile phones and tablets to trade on-the-go in a new trend that is shaping the 24-hour trading cycle.

“Futures and forex trade around the clock, so you’re not always at a computer or you’re not always at your desk,” says Nicole Sherrod, director of trading at TD Ameritrade. “Our clients in the evening can trade futures and forex and monitor their positions through their phone apps.”

In a year-long study on trading trends, the investment firm found its technology rollouts have helped to increase mobile trading by 125 percent.

Whereas larger firms like E*Trade and Charles Schwab offer retail investors the ability to trade stocks, only TD Ameritrade currently gives clients the mobile platform to trade currencies. E*Trade offers futures trading, but not currencies; Schwab offers options trading, but not currencies or futures; and Fidelity Investments offers similar services as TD Ameritrade, but they do not offer futures trading. Schwab says it is investigating currency trading. Fidelity, although it is “sensitive to (its) customer base,” has no specific plans to offer futures trading anytime soon, according to a spokesperson.

Being close to the markets at all times provides investors with quicker access to make gains and limit losses. “You’re seeing all of the news today: it’s all about oil, it’s all about commodities and currency fluctuations based on what’s going on in the Middle East,” Sherrod says, noting that complex options, futures and forex trading features have been “gaining a lot of traction” with retail investors. “We feel that this type of technology helps them gain more visibility about the market and, as such, they’re trading smarter; they’re making better trading decisions,” she continued.

But beware of making a snap trade based on emotion or a change of environment while on the road, warns Peter Misek, managing director at Jefferies & Co., an investment firm.

“The downside is that [mobile trading] is instantaneous,” Misek says. “There may be external influences that you wouldn’t necessarily have when you’re sitting at your desk.”

TD Ameritrade launched its mobile trading app for iPads in February; it will launch a new suite of apps in March based on consumer feedback and other market variables.

The trend could lead to a dramatically different workplace dynamic — a shift that brings both pros and cons, researchers say.

“This is going to mean a growing acceptance of older people in the workforce and the expectation of older people in the workforce, making it easier for those who want to stay in it,” said Craig Copeland, EBRI senior research associate and author of the report.

Women between the age of 55 and 64 are increasingly entering the workforce while the number of men  in that age group has remained steady, the study shows.  Beyond the age of 65, workforce participation was equal between women and men.

Since Social Security eligibility has shifted under current law, more people are putting off retirement in favor of working to pay the bills.

Going back to work has provided would-be retirees a chance to make up for years of poor savings when they were younger, Copeland says.

“If they hadn’t been able to prepare for retirement, now they may be able to work for two, three, or five more years to be able to make that last step in preparation for retirement,” he says.

The study also revealed the link between education and workforce participation.

“Those with a higher education level have jobs that are less physically demanding so they’re able to work longer,” Copeland said.

But the trend could spell bad news for the younger generation trying to rise within the ranks of an older workforce. “Before, there was some movement toward trying to manage the workforce by getting rid of some of the older workers or encouraging them to leave to get younger [workers] in,” Copeland said. With a sluggish demand for physical labor in today’s economy, older workers remain more competitive.

EBRI is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC that studies health, savings, retirement and economic security issues.

Sun Life Financial has launched a company-wide campaign to effectively translate technical jargon into “plain language.”

Seventy-five percent of investors say lack of understanding played a significant role in the financial crisis while two-thirds of consumers believe financial documents are intentionally complex to hide information, according to a  Siegel & Gale study.

“It seems we’re guilty in the [insurance] industry of providing technical jargon,” said Michael Murphy, assistant vice president of life product marketing at Sun Life. “We’re trying to establish with people in plain language that even if you’re not wealthy, you really should put together a series of documents. It’s really not just about taxes; it’s about making sure there’s a seamless distribution of your assets that goes to the next generation.”

Estate-planning isn’t reserved for the “super-affluent” but rather for anybody with assets – which is why it’s important to understand what you’re signing.

The following are a few key insurance and estate-planning guidelines that are important to comprehend:

• Understand what type of insurance is best for you and how to use ratings to pick a life insurance company
• Understand the difference between a regular will and a living will
• What it means to have a durable power of attorney
• What a healthcare proxy is, which could determine how you will be taken care of if you become incapacitated
• How to effectively use gift tax exemptions

“There is a very high level of distrust among consumers today and part of that has come from a financial industry that has made information so complex that people are either trained not to read it or, when they attempt to read it, they cannot understand it,” says Deborah Bosley, an English professor at UNC Charlotte and principal of The Plain Language Group.

Bosley says the ongoing Dodd-Frank review before Congress highlights the push for a viable consumer protection bureau that could provide accessible financial information to the public that “is required to understand in order to make enormous financial decisions for themselves.”

“People will trust companies whose information they understand,” she says.

Stuart Rubinstein, managing director of client engagement for TD Ameritrade, says you should consider Social Security as what it was designed to be: not a guaranteed income, but rather, an income supplement. Thus, the right time to get on track for your retirement goals is today.

Q: What exactly can we expect from the Social Security program?

It’s been widely reported that Social Security is probably insolvent. I think that the American public is going to continue to look at this and Congress will need to act [since] the landscape has really changed over the years. A number of things have changed: one, we’ve moved from a defined benefit structure to a defined contribution structure; and two, life expectancy has changed dramatically since Social Security was enacted. People have to prepare for a much longer life expectancy than they did way back when it was first enacted.

Q: How do we prepare for the worst-case scenario?

People have to take control of what they can control. And what can they control? Well, two big things: one is how much they spend and one is how much they save. Saving and investing is critical for people in older generations to ensure they’re able to retire [or] they’re able to work if they want to, and for how long they want to. Starting earlier is better than later, but the time to start if someone hasn’t is today.

Q: Is there a particular demographic that should be more concerned?

I think younger people today hear about Social Security and are somewhat skeptical that they’re going to collect it. We’ve actually seen with some other work that we’ve done, especially with Generation Y, that they’re feeling better prepared. I think they’re feeling better prepared because they’re taking matters into their own hands a lot sooner.

Q: Will current retirees or those approaching retirement be affected?

I think that any changes to Social Security is going to affect younger generations, maybe even unborn generations. It’s more likely to impact those folks than the people who are closer to retiring. For example, a kid in the tenth grade really hasn’t started contributing to Social Security yet, so it’s okay to change the rules on her.

Q: Does this mean that people should avert risk and should rely on more stable forms of investing?

I think people need to understand their tolerance for risk. There is a risk/reward trade-off and I think people need to consider how long they have between now and retirement. They can make sure they’re diversified and they can make sure they can withstand a short-term hit to their portfolio if they’re in riskier investments. If someone’s going to retire in the next few years, a good part of their portfolio should probably be a little more conservative. If someone’s retiring at age 65 today, their life expectancy can go beyond 10, 15, 20, 25, even 35 years. So there’s a portion of their money that’s going to need to keep pace with inflation.

Q: Should the average American be worried?

I don’t think they should be worried, I think they need to pay attention. Are they following the ABCs of investing, which is automated bi-weekly contributions? Which means, are they investing in the market all the time? The same thing you do with a 401(k) you can do outside of a 401(k). Set up automated contributions so you’re always contributing. They need to pay attention to what’s happening in the markets and their own tolerance for risk, and make adjustments to their portfolio from time to time as their portfolio allocation shifts away from the portfolio allocation that they really want.

Q: When else should people reassess their pension plans?

As milestone birthdays come, take a look and see if that’s still the right allocation. Maybe it needs to get a little more conservative as you get older. Certainly, when someone becomes an empty nester expenses that were maybe spent on the kids can now be put towards accelerating retirement savings. You start getting into those years when your expenses have really gone down because your kids are off the payroll.

Q: Do people need to start saving more money earlier?

Earlier is always better, since the right time to start is today. I never consider it too late to start. Today is the day to start and to do it continuously. There are some great products on the market whether from TD Ameritrade or from anywhere else that clients can automate to get their retirement savings on track. And then, if they do collect Social Security, let it be an income supplement the way it was intended to be. I call that a bonus.

Q: Should people shift their way of thinking, meaning Social Security should be considered a benefit and not a guarantee?

I’d think of it as an income supplement. I think people should develop their own income plans from their own savings and then Social Security can be added to that. I think it’s really important, especially for younger people, to develop a habit of saving and investing. There’s almost no amount that’s too small to start with. Just start, be disciplined and keep building on top of it. Maybe every time you get a raise, take a portion of that raise and allocated some part of it to increasing your saving and investing.

Q: So, this isn’t the end of the world?

No, we just have to think differently. We’re still going to go on, people are going to continue to work and continue to save for retirement and we’re here to help them do that. Sometimes this can be a complicated topic, so people should consider speaking to an adviser.