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A Dozen Retirement Community Bargains
Tweet Share on Facebook July 24, 2009 CommentContinuing care retirement communities provide lifetime housing and medical-care packages to retirees. But brutal housing and economic realities may be making the industry wish someone was providing it with lifetime care. The housing market meltdown of 2007 and 2008 dried up demand for CCRC living units because potential residents either couldn't sell their homes or sell them for enough money to fund the up-front entrance fees required by many CCRCs. There also are rental CCRCs, but they, too, require a substantial financing commitment over time. In both cases, the sale of a primary residence is the typical funding source for CCRC residency.
[Slide Show: Best Affordable Places to Retire.]
As housing woes mounted, the 2008-2009 stock market collapse devastated many retiree investment accounts, removing yet another source of financial support for retirement-community living. And because this bad dream comes in three installments, on came the ensuing recession—the deepest since the Depression—that continues to take a deep toll. Here, the impact may not be so much on retirees as on their family members, who may be facing prolonged unemployment.
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How the 'Old Old' Can Have Best Lives
Tweet Share on Facebook July 23, 2009 Comment (5)Americans 65 and older are projected to grow from 13 percent to 20 percent of the nation's population by 2050, when one in four older people will be 85 years of age or older. That's 5 percent of the entire country -- one in 20 people. That's the Age Wave getting ready to wash over us. Yet surprisingly little attention is being focused on the "old old." How are we going to take care of them? The ranks of geriatric medicine have been thinning, not growing. How are our communities going to accommodate and treat them? And, most important to older people, what does a high quality of life look like at that age and how can they attain it?
[See Growing Older, Getting Mellower, Feeling Good.] -
List of Flight Health Risks is Growing
Tweet Share on Facebook July 22, 2009 Comment (6)Add health risks to the list of concerns that plague commercial air travel these days. We've been worried about paying for a piece of checked luggage or getting chiseled on a meager snack. But it turns out the medical and scientific community sees an airline cabin as a big petri dish -- and one that carries many threats.
[ See America's Best Healthy Places to Retire.] -
Estate Taxes are a Nice Problem to Have
Tweet Share on Facebook July 21, 2009 Comment (11)With the federal deficit galloping its way to a post-WWII high, as a share of economy activity, anyone who seriously believes the estate tax will be allowed to disappear next year can take his rightful place on Fox's Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Outright repeal of the tax would represent an estimated $800 billion drain on the Treasury over 10 years, at a time when even a spare $100 billion is being treated as real money in Washington. More likely, we will see a continuation of this year's taxes, which exempt the first $3.5 million ($7 million per couple) and tax the rest at 45 percent. The big fight, if Congress is not exhausted by all the other Big Fights in store for it, will be over whether that threshold should become permanent or be rolled back to generate more tax revenues.
[Find the Best Places to Retire.] -
4 Steps to Prepare for Losing a Paycheck
Tweet Share on Facebook July 20, 2009 Comment (1)The Boomerater™ Report, our weekly collaboration with online baby boomer resource Boomerater, this week explores things you can do financially to prepare yourself for a possible loss of income. Here is the question from a Boomerater member: “What are steps I should take to make sure I am in good financial shape? My wife’s job may be eliminated next year and I want to make sure we are prepared in case it happens. Also, should I continue to contribute to a 401(k)? We could use the extra money now.”
[See How to Get Your Finances Back on Track in 6 Steps.] -
15 Top Office and Home-Based Jobs for Seniors
Tweet Share on Facebook July 17, 2009 Comment (42)Anyone looking for work knows the job market is tough and likely to stay that way for a long time. To help retirement-age job seekers, RetirementJobs.com has put together what it says is a carefully developed list of attractive positions outside the home and for those seeking at-home jobs. According to its chief career counselor, Bob Skladany, the list is based on numbers of projected job openings, the likelihood that the industry is "age friendly," whether the jobs are age appropriate (in terms of their physical demands, schedule flexibility, and providing social interaction), and whether they offer an attractive mix of pay, benefit, and advancement opportunities. While RetirementJobs.com normally charges a membership fee to access parts of its site, it has provided open access to its national list of employers with senior-friendly workplaces.
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How to Use New Medicare Hospital Tools
Tweet Share on Facebook July 16, 2009 Comment (3)
There are about 5,500 hospitals in the U.S. I can name perhaps 20 to 30 of them, maybe a few more if you gave me a lot of time and even more hints. Which Minnesota hospital has the same name as the shortened name of a popular sandwich condiment and potato salad ingredient? Even in my own back yard, my hospital name recognition prowess is putrid. In part, that's because I have a pitiful memory but it's also because I've been lucky enough over the years to largely avoid hospital visits. However, as I get older, I spend increasing amounts of time at various hospital offices either getting tested, having appointments with medical practices located in hospital complexes or having outpatient procedures to attend to the aches and pains I've come to associate with my very own special aging process.
[ See Low CPI Creates Medicare Winners and Losers.] -
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?”
