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Aging Society Challenges Family Caregivers
Tweet Share on Facebook December 8, 2009 Comment (1)Much is said about the splintering of the American family, but that view doesn't hold up when it comes to taking care of one another. According to a major survey, more than 65 million of us spend an average of 20 hours a week as unpaid caregivers. Looking only at people being cared for who are at least 50 years old, 90 percent of them are family members. Half of all such caregiving is provided to a mother (36 percent) or father (14 percent). Grandparents and in-laws each receive 11 percent of all caregiving, and spouses care for one another in 6 percent of the cases. MetLife funded the research, which was sponsored by the National Alliance of Caregiving in collaboration with AARP. Comparable surveys were done in 1997 and 2004, and the aging of America is clearly evident over the past 12 years.
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Clock is Ticking on Estate Tax Sunset Rules
Tweet Share on Facebook December 7, 2009 Comment (7)Don't look now, but the federal estate tax is set to disappear in 2010 in a little more than three weeks unless Congress approves a measure to extend it. Most people expect that to happen, and the House did approve a bill late last week to create a new permanent estate tax. Under this measure, estates would have an exclusion for taxes of $3.5 million ($7 million for couples). The top tax rate for larger estates would be 45 percent. Estates also would enjoy a key provision that sets the the value of estate assets, for tax purposes, at their value when the estate holder dies, not when he or she originally acquired the assets. This spares heirs from hefty capital gains taxes on inherited assets.
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10 Great Dividend Stocks
Tweet Share on Facebook December 4, 2009 Comment (2)With interest rates hovering near zero and unlikely to change soon, finding attractive investment yields is tough. But stocks have been surging, and many investors have locked on to those with appealing dividends. Getting a nice yield can combine income with upside market potential.
U.S. News worked with S&P Equity Research and MarketScope Advisor to find the best-yielding dividends among the small number of stocks—only 115—that carry S&P's highest "strong buy" analyst rating. But be mindful that "strong buy" doesn't translate into "slam-dunk" when it comes to returns. The highest-yielding stock on the S&P list, for example, is Calumet Specialty Products Partners (ticker: CLMT), the dividend yield of which was recently a princely 10.1 percent. But Calumet also carries a "high" investment risk rating from S&P because it's in the volatile oil industry, where fortunes can quickly shift.
Here, ranked by dividend yield, are S&P's top 10 recommended stocks as of the market's close on November 30. Listings include ticker symbols, S&P risk evaluations, and thumbnail descriptions provided by S&P MarketScope:
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2010 Medicare Drug Plans Need Careful Study
Tweet Share on Facebook December 3, 2009 Comment (2)Four weeks remain to enroll in Medicare for 2010. For 26 million participants in Medicare's Part D prescription drug program, it's especially important to pay attention to the details of the insurance plans you're considering, especially the ways various insurers handle co-pays for specific drugs.
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How to Apply for Those 1,000,000 Census Jobs
Tweet Share on Facebook December 1, 2009 Comment (12)The prospect of up to a million temporary jobs working on the 2010 U.S. Census is drawing lots of attention in today's job-starved marketplace. So, while most jobs won't begin until the spring, it is not too early to add your application to the growing flood of job seekers contacting local Census offices. The jobs—temporary and requiring flexible hours—are perfect for many retirees. By their nature, the jobs will be based close to where you live, and your knowledge of the local community will be a plus.
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Say Bye-Bye to Buy-Buy Holiday Messages
Tweet Share on Facebook November 30, 2009 Comment (2)As the holiday season picks up steam, so do the roaring commercial voices calling on us to consume. And what they're saying is that the economy is recovering, the recession is over, and it's time to open up our wallets, melt our credit cards, and get back into America's national pastime—conspicuous consumption. I am no Scrooge but, please, resist the siren calls of financial irresponsibility.
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See Where the Jobs Are for Older Workers
Tweet Share on Facebook November 24, 2009 Comment (5)For the nearly 7 million experienced people age 65 and older who are still in the labor force, jobless rates have consistently been lower than for all workers. That's scant comfort if you're having trouble finding a job, or finding a job that pays you what you're worth. What's become painfully clear in this jobless recovery is that keeping a job is vital and that job-hopping is a thing of the past for most people. So, be thankful if you've got a job.
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To help provide a clearer picture of where the jobs are for older employees, by occupation, U.S. News gathered detailed information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is public information but the BLS doesn't publish it, and it differs a bit from what you're used to seeing. For example, the national jobless rate in October was 10.2 percent. But the rate here is only 8.8 percent. That's because this unpublished data is not seasonally adjusted. The other primary difference, according to a BLS economist, is that the 10.2 figure includes people with no prior work experience and those who had just left military duty to look for work. The table below includes only people with prior work experience. That makes sense in looking at the job outlook for older employees, because virtually all of us have held jobs in the past.
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Act Now to Reverse 2009 Minimum Plan Payouts
Tweet Share on Facebook November 23, 2009 Comment (1)Nov. 30 is the deadline for most people to reinvest any unwanted minimum payouts from retirement plans. When people with IRAs, 401(k)s, and other qualifying plans reach the age of 70½, they must begin taking at least minimum required distributions (RMDs) from these plans, according to IRS rules. But there was widespread sentiment to waive this requirement for 2009 RMDs because big 2008 investment losses would have forced many retirees to sell holdings at depressed prices.
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Attractive and Functional Design Solutions for Aging Homeowners
Tweet Share on Facebook November 19, 2009 Comment (14)Making a home suitable for older occupants is becoming a mainstream part of the home remodeling business. Growing numbers of seniors want to remain in their homes as they age, and attractive design solutions for aging in place projects have evolved. Making such modifications not only helps current occupants but may broaden the market for future buyers when the home is placed on the market.
[Slide Show: Design Solutions for Aging Homeowners.]
Illustrating this trend, about 3,000 home remodeling and repair contractors have taken a three-day training course to become Certified Aging-in-Place Specialists. The CAPS program was begun by the National Association. of Home Builders and AARP. Therese Ford Crahan, executive director of NAHB's Remodelers Council, describes the sensitivity training that contractors must take as part of the program. "The remodelers are required to put a tennis ball in their nonwriting hand, put that hand in a sock, and then try and write a check," she says, simulating challenges that many people with arthritis face. "Next, we put them in a wheelchair" and they have to maneuver around. Then, "we put sunglasses on them and cover the lenses with Vaseline and then make them try to get around. . . . It's just an eye-opener for remodelers," she says. "They just don't understand . . . until they've been there."
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Why Long-Term Care is So Hard to Provide
Tweet Share on Facebook November 19, 2009 Comment (4)Finding a better way to protect people from being forced into poverty by long-term care expenses would seem a laudable goal of health reform efforts. The difficulties in finding that better way provide just one of many lessons about why reform efforts are so hard. Long-term care is very expensive and most people will need to be cared for at some point in their lives. There is private long-term care insurance, but it's expensive and few people buy it. There is a relatively new market for group long-term care policies and while it shows some promise, its development has been hurt by the recession and cutbacks in all types of employer benefits.
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