Retirement

Concerns about utility smart meters are frequently dismissed as tinfoil-hat paranoia. But it's not so easy to dismiss Jonathan Libber. The Baltimore man delivers his arguments against the wireless devices in the calm manner of an attorney. He is, in fact, an attorney - retired from the Environmental Protection Agency, a point he notes when he reminds people of the country's spotty record of figuring out environmental hazards before they're widespread. As the force behind Maryland's smart-meter opposition, Libber is spending the early part of retirement in a way he'd never envisioned.

Driving the back roads that hug the periphery of Maryland's shoreline, there is no singular characteristic that defines the homes. The ones that date back to summer-only retreats are usually one-story clapboard structures with the give-away air conditioning unit in a window or two. Some are two-story, farmhouse styles. Many are built with their backs to the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries. While many of this style remain, there is a new kind of construction on the block: multistory, year-round homes, with the back of the home boasting sheets of glass in a variety of casements that frame the major attraction: the water.

Varsity Sandusky retires from Boys' Latin ice hockey Jim Sandusky has formally announced his retirement as Boys' Latin ice hockey coach effective Feb. 28 after a decade of leading the program, according to a news release from the school. Sandusky will continue with the Lakers football program as the associative head coach and offensive coordinator. During the past two seasons, he led the Lakers varsity ice hockey team to runner-up status in 2013 and to a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association BConference championship in 2012.

The economy is improving and so is employment, but workers' optimism about a comfortable retirement has fallen to a new low, according to the annual Retirement Confidence Survey released Tuesday. Just over half of workers say they are either very confident about their retirement prospects or somewhat so. But 28 percent - a record high - have no confidence while an additional 21 percent express pessimism about their retirement future. The survey by the Employment Benefit Research Institute gauged the outlook on retirement among 1,254 U.S. workers and retirees interviewed in January.

- Johns Hopkins Hospital's Dr. Ben Carson tested the political waters Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where many said he would be a popular Republican contender for the White House. Carson's speech was met with several standing ovations - with the most enthusiastic applause following a veiled comment about his plans after retiring from Hopkins. And he ranked well in a straw poll, where he was on the ballot against nearly two dozen of the nation's most prominent conservative voices.

Long study has persuaded me that there are only four personal-finance columns in newspapering, which rotate week to week every month:   1. Saving for your children's college education No way you can ever save enougn. You're screwed.    2. Saving for your retirement It's already too late to catch up. You're screwed.   3. Investing in stocks Too risky. You're screwed.    4. Investing in bonds Too little return. You're screwed.   

Mayo A. Shattuck III, who coordinated the sale of two Baltimore institutions to out-of-state concerns and ran the region's power company for a volatile decade, has retired from the parent of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. Chicago-based Exelon Corp. didn't announce his retirement so much as mention in passing — in a hefty securities filing Thursday — that Feb. 28 was his last day as an employee. But Shattuck, 58, isn't cutting ties with the company. Previously executive chairman, he is now non-executive chairman of Exelon's board.

Chief Kevin Cartwright, for years the primary spokesman and public face of the Baltimore Fire Department, is retiring at the end of this month to take a public relations position in the private sector. His city salary of nearly $100,000 is now up for grabs. Cartwright, who has been a member of the fire department since 1989 and a spokesman since 2002, confirmed his departure on Wednesday. "I've kind of been entertaining the idea, for a little bit, of pursuing some new challenges," he said.

Herbert Christian Forrester Jr., a retired railroad vice president, died of coronary artery disease Thursday at Mays Chapel Ridge Assisted Living. The former Cockeysville resident was 88. Born in Baltimore and raised in Windsor Hills, he was the son of attorney Herbert C. Forrester and Mary Davis, a legal secretary. He was a 1942 Forest Park High School graduate. He enlisted in the Army's Air Corps during World War II. Trained as a pilot, he served until 1945. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in transportation at the University of Baltimore, where he also taught from 1962 to 1964.