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Eat Less Food and Play More Bridge
Tweet Share on Facebook July 15, 2009 Comment (4)It's been a dream month for the Calorie Restriction Society. The private group was begun about 15 years ago and is devoted to the increasingly likely proposition that people can significantly extend their life spans through extremely low-calorie diets. That belief got a major nudge last week from a University of Wisconsin study using rhesus monkeys, who are genetically close to humans and the most advanced test subjects to date for looking at the impact of such diets.
News outlets around the world gave 15 minutes of fame to two of the research subjects, Canto and Owen. They are about the same age but Canto has been on a restricted-calorie diet while Owen has not. Photographs show Canto to be trim, Owen not so much. Canto looks more alert but perhaps that's my wishful thinking. Yet, study findings did report that low-calorie test subjects not only lived longer but also showed more mental acuity and fewer signs of aging than monkeys fed a normal diet. At least Owen is still alive. Many of his normally fed peers haven't been so lucky, although it will be many years before all the research monkeys live out their lives and final research results can be tallied. -
Are Seniors Being Targeted as Bad Drivers?
Tweet Share on Facebook July 13, 2009 Comment (8)Tougher licensing rules for older drivers are being seriously proposed in Massachusetts following a rash of tragic auto accidents involving older drivers. There is more than a little rush-to-judgment response where senior driving problems are concerned, and it is hardly unique to Massachusetts. Similar scenarios occur around the country from time to time, and when they do, the facts often don't get in the way. I call it ageism but that word needs to be used carefully because there is very little sympathy when an old driver hits and kills a young child, regardless of the statistical rarity of such an event.
[Take a Road Test of Your Driving Skills] -
Tips To Help Parents Who Want To Age In Place
Tweet Share on Facebook July 13, 2009 Comment (10)The Boomerater™ Report, our weekly collaboration with online baby boomer resource Boomerater, this week explores some of the issues involved in helping your parents age in place.
Here is the question from a Boomerater member: “My mom and dad are in their 70's and are in good health. They have told me they would never consider leaving the home they have lived in since they were married and raised all five of their children. With the high cost associated with assisted living and the loss they will probably take in the real estate market, I can also see the financial benefit of their staying in their home. I’d like to hear from other boomers who have helped their parents stay in their homes successfully. What are the modifications to make the home safe and what else should be considered?” -
Target Date Fund Quarterly Return Details
Tweet Share on Facebook July 10, 2009 CommentIbbotson Associates, a unit of Morningstar, analyzed investment results of 312 target-date funds that have been in operation for at least a year. Here are their returns for the quarter ended June 30, broken down by the target year of the funds. Income funds are conservatively managed funds used by older target-date funds once investors have been retired for some time and have moved into the most conservative phase of their fund's glide path.
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Target-Date Funds Finally Showing Solid Gains
Tweet Share on Facebook July 10, 2009 CommentTarget-date mutual funds, which are designed to produce optimal returns based on a planned retirement date, are moving closer to their moment of truth. Will they be scapegoats for nearly universal disgust over last year's Wall Street collapse? Or will they prove to be the right idea for retirement investing?
[See 4 Myths About Target-Date Funds.]
The funds have become increasingly popular since a 2006 law encouraged employers to offer "automatic pilot" default choices in their retirement plans. That's what target-date funds are designed to do: automatically shift investment holdings away from stocks into more conservative investments as their owners age. But critics complain that the funds' heavy losses last year (funds designed for 2010 retirees lost, on average, 25 percent of their value) revealed they were too heavily invested in stocks. Another critique: The funds failed to adequately disclose their underlying risks. However, with few exceptions, fund managers have strongly defended the design and performance of target-date funds.
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Nation's 10 Least Expensive Medicare Markets
Tweet Share on Facebook July 9, 2009 Comment (2)The nation's most expensive Medicare markets were highlighted in an earlier article. Today, you'll be introduced to the cheapest markets. Now, cheap doesn't necessarily mean the care is poor. Just the opposite. According to the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, which generated this information, low-cost medical markets may actually be good for your health. To better understand why this might be the case, it's helpful to think of the cost of medical care as having three components:
1. Price. What are the prices charged by hospitals, doctors and providers of drugs and other medical equipment and services? -
The Nation's 10 Costliest Medicare Markets
Tweet Share on Facebook July 7, 2009 Comment (10)As the friction over healthcare reform has intensified, the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice has become the gold standard of information about the costs of health care. Its studies—which look at variations in the cost, frequency, and outcomes of medical procedures—have taken center stage in a debate that could lead to substantial changes in the healthcare sector.
[Use our new, online search tool to find your best place to retire.]
The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care 2008 contains some amazing and counterintuitive findings about healthcare. First, the amount of healthcare provided in the United States is not related as strongly to patient need as it is to the available supply of healthcare. Using identical patient profiles and medical needs, Dartmouth found that markets with more hospital beds, doctors, and high-end diagnostic equipment provided what amounted to excess healthcare. The primary reason, it said, is that government and private health insurance plans are based on compensating healthcare providers for the procedures they perform, not for the rate at which they cure patients or make them healthier.
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Boomer Entrepreneurs Make New Best Lives
Tweet Share on Facebook July 6, 2009 Comment (1)The Boomerater™ Report, our weekly collaboration with online baby boomer resource Boomerater, this week gives you some tips to consider before starting up your own small business. A Boomerater member was looking for advice about turning her part-time business into a full-time venture and members weighed in with their advice about things to consider before taking the plunge.
[See It's Time for Some Life Planning.] -
Will More Reverse Mortgages Mean More Fraud?
Tweet Share on Facebook July 1, 2009 Comment (6)The rising popularity of federally insured reverse mortgages attracted 1,500 new lenders into the program last year, more than doubling the total of participating lenders. And while reports of consumer abuse and fraud are infrequent, legislators and regulators are calling for strengthened oversight to protect seniors from aggressive or outright unscrupulous lenders.
The federal Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program allows homeowners aged 62 and up to borrow money against the equity in their homes. The funds are available as lump sums, regular payments or lines of credit. Borrowers can remain in their homes as long as they're able without making further mortgage payments. They do, however, need to pay property taxes and insurance and keep up the home. The interest payments on the money they borrow are paid to lenders out of the remaining equity in the home. If borrowers stay in the home long enough to use up all their equity, they generally face no further financial obligation to the lender.
