Posted on June 24, 2006 by Jason
More alternatives to nursing homes needed, experts say
Statesman Journal, June 23rd, 2006
Senior advocates say that Oregon should maintain alternatives to nursing homes even as Oregonians age.
As
the state prepares for the retirement of the post-World War II baby
boomer generation and considers revamping how it provides and pays for
long-term care, advocates said Thursday that Oregon should reinforce
services that allow older people to stay in their own homes and
communities.
Oregon Project Independence, founded almost three decades ago, was the national model for in-home services for seniors.
“More
so than 30 years ago, older Oregonians are an independent bunch,” said
Ruth Shepherd of Salem, a senior advocate. “We know they are going to
try to do it on their own, and we need to play on that. I think we do
not have a problem at all in this state in agreeing to tax for programs
to support those people in need.”
Neither
she nor Phyllis Rand of Salem were willing yet to embrace specific
proposals that a state task force is presenting at several community
forums, including one held Thursday in Keizer.
Read more…
Posted on June 22, 2006 by Jason
Chicago Sun-Times, June 21st, 2006
Retirees Espie and Don Nelson aren’t spending their golden years on the golf course.
Most every day you’ll
find them strolling around a different sort of greenery — a 37-acre
prairie along Lily Cache Creek that they purchased and are
painstakingly restoring in Plainfield, two miles from their home.
That work is the main
reason they’re being honored next month by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service, where habitat restoration coordinator Mike Redmer describes
the Nelsons as “the ultimate volunteers.”
Over the past decade
the couple also has put in thousands of hours at the Midewin National
Tallgrass Prairie, Morton Arboretum and Will County forest preserves,
Redmer said.
A few years ago the Nelsons bought the Plainfield plot from Espie’s brothers, who had farmed it since the late 1950s.
Read more…
Posted on June 21, 2006 by Jason
Funds help seniors handle expenses
New York Daily News, June 18th, 2006
When Molly Cohen of Belle Harbor, Queens, was about 98, her
niece, Rita Cofsky, took out a reverse mortgage for her. Cofsky knew her aunt
wanted to stay in her home, which was just five doors away from the beach.
But Cohen needed funds to pay for her home care. So her niece took out a
$250,000 reverse mortgage, payable in about $5,000-a-month installments.
It proved to be “a wonderful” solution, said Cofsky, who lives in California.
Her aunt received the monthly payments until she died in May 2005.
Then Cofsky, who had been her aunt’s caregiver, sold her aunt’s house to
repay the loan.
In this era of rising costs and – in many cases, limited savings – more
seniors are exploring this method of getting funds.
With a reverse mortgage, seniors borrow against the equity of their primary
residence without having to sell the home or forfeit title to it.
Read more…
Posted on June 21, 2006 by Jason
Florida is no longer the prefered choice as a retirement haven
US News & World Report, June 14th, 2006
Don and Maggie Denton always figured they’d retire in Florida. For
15 years the two business and estate analysts had bounced between
offices near Orlando and in Columbus, Ohio. So when Don, at age 62, and
Maggie, 59, decided to simplify their lives prior to retiring, they
sold their Ohio home and 8,000-square-foot Florida house and downsized
to a home less than half the size in Disney’s new town of Celebration.
That, they thought, would be their last move.
Don laughs–now. “We quickly realized there was no way we were going
to stay in Florida,” he says. The Dentons found the heat and humidity
oppressive from May to September. Most of their neighbors were still
raising kids, not flashing photos of grandkids. And bingo at the local
senior center wasn’t their idea of staying active. As retirement inched
closer, Celebration’s picket fences began to lose their charm.
“Suddenly the question was: ‘Now that we’re going to retire, what are
we going to do?’ ” says Maggie.
Zeroing in. And so, after a few years of alligator-watching from
the front porch, the couple found themselves Googling for a new place
to live. They zeroed in on Sun City Anthem, an age-restricted community
in Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb 15 minutes from the Strip. Their new
view, from their back patio, overlooks the fairways of the community’s
golf course and the glittering lights of Sin City in the valley below.
“This is like Disney World and Universal for adults,” says Don. “Not
only do you have great hospitals, great universities, and great
neighborhoods, but you have shows and restaurants.”
Read more…
Posted on June 20, 2006 by Jason
Will aging boomers pull their money out of the market and cause an asset meltdown on their way to retirement?
CNN Money, June 19th, 2006
Bob Dylan, bard of the baby-boomers, turned 65 a few weeks ago. The
milestone passed without much fanfare, but it was an unmistakable
reminder that the generation that had hoped to stay forever young is
nearing retirement age.
Dylan is slightly ahead of the crowd, but the first of the boomers hit
60 this year, with nearly 8,000 Americans reaching the mark every day.
Talk about times a-changin’.
That aging is bound to be unsettling – and not just for boomers. The
graying of such a massive cohort will strain programs such as Social
Security and Medicare. But it will also have a broader economic impact,
potentially affecting private investments as much as public
entitlements. A number of market experts warn that the population
shifts ahead may spark an asset meltdown that could weaken equity
returns – if not devastate them – for a decade or more.
Among those sounding the alarm is the unlikeliest of Chicken Littles:
Jeremy Siegel, the Wharton finance professor and author of the bullish
investing bible “Stocks for the Long Run.”
Read more…
Posted on June 19, 2006 by Jason
A complex market, rife with scandal, masks the benefits of income annuity
Marketwatch.com, June 18th, 2006
Annuities can offer a fine replacement to the fast-disappearing company pension:
Guaranteed monthly income for life.
But annuity products are incredibly complex, and the industry has
more than its fair share of bad actors trying to collect fat commissions selling
certain annuities that are inappropriate for many retirees, so investors need to
be careful.
The type of annuity in which you hand over a lump sum to an insurer
and immediately start getting monthly checks for life is known as an “income
annuity” or “immediate annuity.” For certain people heading into retirement,
that monthly check can be a good thing.
Trouble is, these income annuities are far outsold by products
called “deferred” (and often, “variable”) annuities, which may suit long-term
savers but not retirees who might need the money sooner rather than later.
Read more…
Posted on June 16, 2006 by Jason
From new careers to volunteer work, boomers redefine retirement
MSNBC, June 16th, 2006
Baby boomer Catherine Meloy used to run a radio network with more than 1,000
stations, but now she checks out the Goodwill stores she manages in the
Washington, D.C., area or visits one of the classrooms paid for by Goodwill’s
profits so the disabled or unemployed can join the workforce.
And about her 25-year career as a
radio exec?
“There isn’t a day that I look
back and say, I wish I was still there,” says Meloy.
And Dick Tarlow doesn’t miss the advertising career that made him a fortune. He
and his girlfriend are heading for Africa to explore volunteering possibilities.
As does Joyce Roache, a marketing
executive for two decades but now running a charity benefiting young girls.
“I worked very hard, numerous
hours,” she says, “and then I had to get away in order to get energized and
rejuvenated. Just because you were so consumed. Now I work as hard, but I’m
energized every day.”
Read more…
Posted on June 14, 2006 by Jason
Spero News, June 13th, 2006
There
is plenty of buzz about “reverse mortgages” on television, radio
talk-shows, and on the street about this unique financial opportunity
for senior citizens. America’s seniors, who have worked hard over the
years to build and keep their homes, are intrigued but perhaps
skeptical of this opportunity, feeling sometimes that there is a lack
of unbiased information about reverse mortgages. It pays to be
informed, and to know that there are plenty of sources of disinterested
information and assistance for seniors who wanted to make their
retirement years comfortable and worry-free.
A
reverse mortgage is a loan against your home that you do not have to
repay for as long as you live in your home. You can convert the value
of your home into cash without having to sell it, move out, or make
monthly payments to a loan company or bank.
You
typically do not have to pay anything back until you pass away, sell
your home or permanently move out of your home for more than twelve
consecutive months. Senior homeowners, 62 years of age and older, are
eligible for this type of loan. An appraisal of the property must be
done before proceeding with the reverse mortgage.
With
a reverse mortgage, you do not have to qualify on the basis of income.
You remain the owner of your home just as in the case of ordinary home
mortgages. With a reverse mortgage, you are still responsible for
paying your property taxes and homeowner insurance, as well as making
any necessary repairs and maintenance.
Read more…
Posted on June 14, 2006 by Jason
NorthJersey.com, June 13th, 2006
Michael Becker knows plenty of his contemporaries plan to enjoy
golf, long strolls on the beach and other pleasures of retirement.
But the owner of Fabulous Mats and More at the Wayne Towne Center is having none of it.
“I’d like not to retire,” said Becker, 64. “The idea of an early-bird special in Florida is not my idea of fun.”
Becker is among a growing number of folks across the globe who want
more out of their golden years than just taking to the links, playing
with the grandkids, or toiling in the garden. A recent global survey
found that many people want to work well past the age of retirement,
and that money isn’t always the reason. The survey also reflected
changing attitudes about who should fund retirement, with a mere 5
percent worldwide saying it’s a company’s responsibility to provide for
retirees.
The Future of Retirement survey, done for the London-based HSBC
banking group, found that 72 percent of respondents want to do away
with mandatory retirement. And only 25 percent of those surveyed in 20
countries and territories plan to work because of financial need.
Others were more likely to want to do something meaningful in their
later years that will also involve staying fit physically and mentally.
Read more…
Posted on June 14, 2006 by Jason
Appleton Post-Crescent, June 13th, 2006
I know people who have left good, long-term jobs while in their 50s for
various reasons.
Some were forced out, but some weren’t — and I have to say my cautious nature
makes me wonder why they did what they did.
At 56, one professional worker, in a snit, walked away from a great job — at
least, I thought it was a great job — and I don’t think had much in retirement
savings. Another made the move at 51, a bit more measured, while a third
disappeared in the night. Only the third was set financially.
From where I stand, it makes sense to quit your job, if you hate it and if
you have something to fall back on, like, perhaps, another job or a bit of
wealth. However, it’s dangerous to make a rash decision when you don’t have
health insurance and another significant income source.
With five years experience in my retirement, which I took at age 58, I
understand the temptation for someone in their 50s to want to have more control
over his or her waking hours. But jumping too soon can create a lot of sleepless
nights — anxiety-ridden hours worrying because one’s retirement income just
doesn’t measure up.
Read more…
