Posted on May 31, 2006 by Jason
For retiring Baby Boomers, staying active is about more than just having fun
MSNBC, May 30th, 2006
In Bluffton, newly retired schoolteacher Andrea Flanagan and her husband, Mark,
have some big decisions to make. Not about what to do with the rest of their
lives, but what not to do.
“I see other people settling down,
and I feel like we are just starting up,” Andrea Flanagan says.
For the Flanagans — both 60 and
born in the first year of the baby boom — retirement means activity. They’re
learning new skills — picking up new sports from biking to volleyball — a long
way from the traditional rocking chair.
That’s par for the course for
boomers who have reshaped America at every turn, says Marc Freedman, author of
“Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform
America.”
“This new generation is not only
expanding the definition of activity and expanding the definition of retirement,
they are actually creating something entirely new — a stage of life that hasn’t
existed before,” Freedman says.
Read more…
Posted on May 31, 2006 by Jason
The New York Times, May 30th, 2006
Depression afflicts people of all ages, but it can be particularly devastating for older
people, who are less likely to seek treatment and more likely to commit Suicide
than younger adults similarly afflicted. The problems include the failure to
recognize the symptoms of depression in the elderly and the belief that nothing
can be done for people with ample reason to be depressed.
Some elderly people continue to regard depression as shameful or a sign of
weakness that should not be acknowledged even to physicians. Physicians, in
turn, often fail to ask the questions that will find depression in their older
patients.
The elderly came of age when little could be done for depression or when the
only treatments caused serious side effects. These are some of the quite
different facts about the problem:
•Depression is an illness of the brain, no different from diseases of other
organs. It should be diagnosed and treated just like any other disease.
•Regardless of health, treating depression is as effective in the elderly as
in younger people.
Read more…
Posted on May 31, 2006 by Jason
Variation of the classic insurance product can provide retirement security
MSNBC, May 24th, 2006
It’s not news that the
employer-funded pension, once a major component of a worker’s retirement plan,
is fast becoming a thing of the past. But for those looking to recreate a
pension’s security and life-spanning regularity, there is hope with a variation
of a classic insurance product — the so-called “fixed” annuity.
Also known as single-premium
immediate annuities, this retirement vehicle will not help the critically
under-saved or be of much use to the affluent, says Rande Spiegelman, vice
president of financial planning with the Schwab Center for Investor Research.
But he says “for the vast middle” they may offer relief from the dual fears of
out-living one’s savings and making bad investment decisions.
“With a single premium immediate
annuity you are done,” says Bob Rockwell, a certified financial planner with
Clackamas County Bank in Sandy, Ore. “You’ll get guaranteed payments for life or
whatever period you contract for. There are no moving parts.”
Read more…
Posted on May 31, 2006 by Jason
The Jewish Exponent, May 25th, 2006
A reverse mortgage can be a powerful tool for converting home equity into cash
that can help you make ends meet. However, reverse mortgages also present some
financial risk.
The following information, provided by the Pennsylvania Institute of
Certified Public Accountants, can help you determine if this financial
strategy is right for you.
• How They Work. Reverse mortgages work like traditional mortgages,
only in reverse. Rather than paying your lender each month, the lender pays you.
These payments are cash advances against the equity in your home.
The maximum amount that can be borrowed is usually based on the age of the
homeowner, the appraised value of the home and the current interest rate.
Generally, the more equity you have in your home, the older you are, and the
lower the interest rate, the more you can tap into it for cash.
Read more…
