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Managing Your Money and Mind during Economic Crisis
 With the recent turmoil in the stock market and the general economic crisis, employees are struggling with two questions: What should I do about my retirement investments? How can I deal with the stress I'm feeling?
Theron Lyon, benefits manager at UC Riverside and a certified financial planner, has a response to both questions: "People need to take their emotions out of this." But, he acknowledges, that's very hard.
Jerry Neal, personal financial advisor at UC San Francisco, agrees. "Those who study financial behavior say our behavior bounces between fear and greed. People respond to extremes with emotion, even in the world of personal finance."
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 From Health Assessment to Cancer Survivor
When Carole Meyer-Rieth decided last winter to complete a health assessment and then get into shape, she didn't expect the rapid sequence of life-changing medical events that would follow.
Fortunately, the 34-year-old mother of two young children landed safely from a wild ride that included a diagnosis that would save her life. In just several months, she went from a mom trying to get back her pre-pregnancy physical verve to someone who is proud to call herself a cancer survivor.
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Berkeley
What's in that Stuff? Ask GoodGuide
 Dara O'Rourke, an associate professor of environmental and labor policy, has launched an early-beta version of GoodGuide, a conscious-consumption website for shoppers who care as much about values as they do about value. The fledgling site already delivers a wealth of data on more than 60,000 personal-care and household-chemical products, and O'Rourke and his staff are adding more categories.
"People want to know much more about their products than just the price and just the brand," says O'Rourke, who took a leave from his regular job in an effort to meet the demand.
Los Angeles
His Commute's a Wild Ride
 After spending his teenage years doing daredevil skateboard tricks and his adult life as a Marine living in dangerous countries, biking 60 miles a day through Los Angeles traffic doesn't intimidate UCLA mail carrier Oscar Anchetta.
"People tell me, 'You're crazy,' but I love riding," Anchetta said. His daily commute, biking 30 miles each way between Whittier and UCLA, takes him about an hour and a half, one way &mdeash; about the same amount of time it would take in a car, he figures.
For the last two and a half years, Anchetta has made it a daily habit to bike through nine cities by his count, including Whittier, Pico Rivera, Montebello, Commerce, East L.A., West L.A. and Culver City, to get to work.
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 Q. My husband has been a UCSD faculty for more than 30 years. It is our understanding that upon retirement, he can continue to have full health benefits and I could have the same benefits, as long as I am enrolled in the health program with him at the time of his retirement. However, I joined the UCSD faculty two-and-a-half years ago and I am enrolled in health insurance separately, as this is less expensive than having health insurance through my husband as a spouse. In the event that my husband retires before me, and I do at a later period of time but before I am eligible for retiree health benefits, would I get his full retirement health benefits? A.M., UC San Diego
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Q. I recently had a conversation with a CalPERS retiree who stated that about two years ago legislation was passed allowing pre-retirees to purchase what he called "air" years, which apparently add time to an employee's years of service. Two questions: Can you explain this to me? Is there a legal provision for members of UCRP to purchase "air" years? W.W., UC Davis
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Do you have a question about your benefits that you’d like to have answered here? Send your questions to HRBBriefing-L@ucop.edu or UC HR/Benefits, HRB Briefing editor, 300 Lakeside Drive, 12th Floor, Oakland CA 94612. We will provide answers in a future issue of HRB Briefing.
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