Hot Topics: Is the Economy Growing Fast Enough?

If you're in the 40-to-55 age group and concerned about your job prospects and retirement investments, chances are that you've been awaiting the U.S. Commerce Department's latest data on economic growth. Those numbers were just released this morning, and while the picture definitely is getting better, the question economists are asking is whether the economy is improving fast enough.

The good news is that the economy definitely is on the rise, with the nation's Gross Domestic Product rising in the fourth quarter of 2011 at an estimated annual rate of 2.8 percent. That's up from 1.8 percent in the third quarter, and it's the biggest surge the nation has seen in the past one-and-a-half years. Additionally, exports of goods and services increased 4.7 percent in Q4, another sign that economic growth is picking up. For the first time, the nation's economy has regained the size that it had before the recession of 2008-2009.

Nevertheless, Wall Street investors clearly wanted a better report, as evidenced by how the Dow and the S&P index slumped slightly this morning. Reuters reports that in its recent poll, economists had expected growth of around 3 percent and that experts are worried that the recent growth was stimulated by companies' need to replenish dwindling inventories after several years of being in a holding pattern, rather than by customers actually buying their wares. Indeed, this morning several big companies, including Ford, Chevron and networking technology giant Juniper Networks, reported small quarterly declines.

In other news:

A Glimpse of the Rest of Your Life: The Atlantic offers this intriguing slideshow and video excerpt from Prudential's Day One project, which checks in with new retirees about their emotions and expectations for the future on their first day of post-job freedom. Linda Gurtherie of Chattanooga, Tenn., for example, explains how she's finally going to follow her lifelong dream of roaming the country with her dog, Deacon, for company. I also like the advice from Woolwich Township, N.J., retiree Jone Sienkiewicz: "Expand your universe with discovery of new things and appreciate old things....enjoy yourself. Love, laugh, cry. Do it all -- and do it with gusto!"

Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus When It Comes to Retirement Finances: Here's an intriguing dispatch from MSN Money about a study on how retirement-related financial and savings strategies vary according to gender. The big take-away: Men are more likely to feel they're on track to save what they'll need for their second acts because they focus more on calculating that amount and systematically saving it. Women, however, pay more attention to maintaining their health as they age, so they may be more likely to live long enough to enjoy what they save. This story is featured at Your Retirement Report, a daily roundup of retirement planning news from around the web.

Should Women Stop Taking Cholesterol Medication? Physician and Huffington Post blogger Mark Hyman offers this provocative post, in which he cites a new study about the link between statins and increased diabetes risk in post-menopausal women. "Beware if your doctor advises [statins] if you've never had a heart attack," says Hyman, who also warns that the link between elevated blood cholesterol levels and heart disease deaths in people over 55 is sketchy, at best.

RIP to an Everyday Fashion Maven: Charla Krupp, author of the style self-help manual How Not to Look Old, this week succumbed to breast cancer in Manhattan at age 58. Krupp advised women not to worry about the appearance of vanity because looking good "is about our personal and financial survival."

Maybe He Should Stick to "Dream On"? A lot of people aren't too thrilled with American Idol judge Steven Tyler's screechy, slightly off-key performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Sunday's NFL playoff game between his hometown New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens. In this Chicago Tribune article, experts explain that in fairness, it's devilishly difficult to sing Francis Scott Key's stirring composition, and the cultural trend is to harshly critique celebrity performers who attempt it at sporting events. At least Tyler remembered all the words, avoiding a Rick Perry-type brain freeze to which Season 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina embarrassingly succumbed at a game back in November. Personally, I've got a soft spot for Jose Feliciano's version at the 1968 World Series.

The Last Word: "Run your own race. Don't worry about what that one is doing, what this one is doing. Be a racehorse. Wear blinders." -- comedienne and red-carpet fashion commentator Joan Rivers, passing along the best advice she ever received, via Huffington Post