【推荐2】Owning a home will make you £326,000 wealthier over a 30-year period than renting, before potential house price growth is even considered, a report has suggested.

The Equity (股本) Release Council, a trade body, found that nearly one in three homeowners saw their mortgage (按揭贷款) as an investment in their future. Nearly half of homeowners with a mortgage also agreed they were able to save more because their loan was cheaper than renting, thanks to unprecedented (没有先例的) low interest rates. About 40 per cent added that they believed having a mortgage in later life was becoming more acceptable and 57 percent said that they were looking at ways to release equity from their properties.

The report Home advantage: intergenerational perspectives on property wealth in later life examined trends that have changed the financial landscape for pensions and home ownership over the past three decades. The survey covered 5,000 UK adults questioned in May 2021. It compared the cost of renting privately with paying a mortgage on the average first-time buyer. It assumed that average rents rise by 2 per cent each year and that the homeowner takes a 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgage on a £220,000 home. It takes account of other costs of owning, such as maintenance. Owning a home is expected to become more critical to families’ financial security and wellbeing in later life, but the report also warned of lifelong inequality for those — generally younger people — unable to buy.

David Burrowes, the Equity Release Council chairman, said: “For those who manage to buy their own home during their working lives, the extra confidence and flexibility this provides will be even more critical to their financial wellbeing than it is today.”

【推荐2】Rene Campbell has devoted most of her life to shaping her figure into one completely against what society thinks a woman should look like.

“I was always very insecure about my body image, as everyone seemed to know for sure that women needed to look a certain way,” she says when reflecting on her motivation to transform herself.     1     For quite some time, she struggled with eating disorders because she was trying to keep her weight really low and appear skinny, like the women on magazine covers.     2     It was then that she became attracted by the way these seemingly confident women held themselves.

However, building her dream body—gaining over 85 pounds, going from a size 8 to 14—has had its challenges, too. “    3     When I tell them that I am a female bodybuilder, the first reaction is, ‘Muscles for women are just not attractive,’” Campbell says. Though she loves the way she now looks, she is sometimes treated with cruelty.

    4    Even though there is a huge market encouraging women to build muscles and tighten their figures, the ideal still stands for smaller waists, and thin legs, the so-called perfect figure. For women to build up strong muscles, it takes a strong heart.

“I gradually learn to ignore others’ voices and become committed to the training. It is a very big shift for me, and it has won me plenty of awards.     5     My bodybuilding journey makes me realize that I need to do things for myself.” Campbell says.

【推荐3】As my head moved up and down on the Zoom screen, private messages poured in from my colleagues: “What are you doing there?” “Are you sitting on a ball?” “Are you walking?” I could feel their eyes on me — inquiring, interested, confused. Clearly, this wasn’t a normal faculty meeting. I replied I was walking on my new under desk treadmill (跑步机).

I didn’t have to worry about workday inactivity earlier in my career. As a graduate student and postdoc, I went on frequent field excursions to collect soil samples in remote places. The fieldwork was physically challenging, a contrast to the lab tasks and desk work that were also part of my job. But when I became a professor, fieldwork became a rarity.

During the pandemic the situation grew worse. My schedule filled up with one online meeting or seminar after the next. And I “traveled” to them without leaving my desk. Although I had the luxury of a height-adjustable desk, which gave me the option to stand, I still felt unbalanced, and I began to experience back pain.

At home, I’d occasionally tried to work on my wife’s treadmill, which I’d repurposed by putting a wooden board across the handles and my laptop on top. I thought that might be just what I needed in my campus office, so I bought a treadmill designed to go under a desk. I decided to spend my entire workday on the treadmill. It took me several days to adjust, but I eventually got the hang of typing and speaking while walking.

When I’m at my desk, I spend nearly all of my working hours in motion. In the first couple of weeks, I was a bit exhausted when I got home at night. But over time, I developed more endurance. My back pain disappeared and I came to enjoy the time at my desk.

Most of the scientists I work with have sent me reassuring feedback. Some have even bought treadmills of their own. That has made me view my walking as a way to silently communicate a crucial message to my colleagues: There’re always ways to stay active if you want!