Archive for November, 2009 Page 2 of 4

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Can Meditation Curb Heart Attacks?

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Jason

The New York Times, November 20th, 2009

When Julia Banks was almost 70, she took up transcendental
meditation. She had clogged arteries, high blood pressure and too much
weight around the middle, and she enrolled in a clinical trial testing
the benefits of meditation.

Now Mrs. Banks, 79, of Milwaukee, meditates twice a day, every day,
for 20 minutes each time, setting aside what she calls “a little time
for myself.”

“You never think you’ve got that time to spare, but you take that
time for yourself and you get the relaxation you need,” said Mrs.
Banks, who survived a major heart attack and a lengthy hospitalization
after coronary artery bypass surgery six years ago.

“You have things on your mind, but you just blot it out and do the
meditation, and you find yourself being more graceful in your own
life,” she said. “You find out problems you thought you had don’t exist
— they were just things you focused on.”

Could the mental relaxation have real physiological benefits? For
Mrs. Banks, the study suggests, it may have. She has gotten her blood
pressure under control, though she still takes medication for it, and
has lost about 75 pounds.

Findings from the study
were presented this week at an American Heart Association meeting in
Orlando, Fla. They suggest that transcendental meditation may have real
therapeutic value for high-risk people, like Mrs. Banks, with
established coronary artery disease.

After following about 200 patients for an average of five years,
researchers said, the high-risk patients who meditated cut their risk
of heart attacks, strokes and deaths from all causes roughly in half
compared with a group of similar patients who were given more
conventional education about healthy diet and lifestyle.

Read more of this article

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to find the right Medicare Advantage program for you and your medical
needs.

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Vitamin D Shows Heart Benefits in Study

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Jason

The New York Times, November 16th, 2009

Got vitamin D? It may protect you from heart disease.

Vitamin D, of milk fame, is known for helping with calcium
absorption and for building strong bones, which is why it’s routinely
added to milk. But there is more and more evidence that vitamin D is a critical player
in numerous other aspects of metabolism. A new study suggests many
Americans aren’t getting anywhere nearly enough of the vitamin, and it
may be affecting their heart health.

In the study, researchers looked at tens of thousands of healthy
adults 50 and older whose vitamin D levels had been measured during
routine checkups. A majority, they found, were deficient in the
vitamin. About two-thirds had less vitamin D in their bloodstreams than
the authors considered healthy, and many were extremely deficient.

Less than two years later, the researchers found, those who had
extremely low levels of the vitamin were almost twice as likely to have
died or suffered a stroke than those with adequate amounts. They also
had more coronary artery disease and were twice as likely to have
developed heart failure.

The findings, which are being presented today at an American Heart
Association conference in Orlando, don’t prove that lack of vitamin D
causes heart disease; they only suggest a link between the two. But
cardiologists are starting to pay increasing attention because of what
they’re learning about vitamin D’s roles in regulating blood pressure,
inflammation and glucose control — all critical body processes in
cardiovascular health.

Read more of this article.

Supplemental Medicare Insurance: work with a pre-screened insurer
to find the right Medicare Advantage program for you and your medical
needs.

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RETIREMENT AND RISK: Variable values

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Jason

American Chronicle, November 19th, 2009

In the third part of a four-part series surveying the retirement
market, Annie Shaw reports on investing in a low-interest-rate
environment and the attraction of drawdown and variable annuity
guaranteed income products

Pension savers coming up to retirement
must have wondered what hit them over the past 18 months. Stockmarket
falls wiped out a quarter to a third of assets held in equities, some
cash turned out not really to be “cash” while any holding that really
was in cash saw returns fall as interest rates went through the floor.

The risks associated with delaying taking an annuity could not have
been demonstrated more clearly, not least for those in drawdown.

Yet, far from putting investors off drawdown, some advisers think that now could be the ideal time to opt for it.

Informed Choice managing director Martin Bamford says: “Now that
pension fund values have recovered many of their equity-related losses
and annuity rates look reasonably good, unsecured pension will look
less attractive for many people.

“However, the attraction of
unsecured pension is not simply limited to income levels. Many
investors choose this option for the enhanced death benefits or the
ability to access tax-free cash without taking a taxable income. As a
long-term strategy for investors with other assets or sources of income
in retirement and for those with larger pension funds, unsecured
pension will remain a viable alternative to annuity purchase.”

Drawdown has grown steadily since the option became available in the
1990s. Take-up rates took a knock after the internet bubble burst in
2002, and clients and advisers started to wake up once more to the
downside risks but by 2006, drawdown had taken off again, reaching 21
per cent of the retirement income market.

In the same year,
the FSA launched a consumer campaign to warn investors against the
dangers of drawdown, particularly for those with small pension pots.

Read more of this article.

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Fidelity Says 401(k) Accounts Recover From 2008 Drop

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Jason

Bloomberg, November 19th, 2009

Fidelity Investments said the
average balance on customers’ 401(k) retirement accounts has
returned to September 2008 levels on contributions and third-
quarter investment gains.

Account balances in plans for U.S. workers benefited from
the 22 percent year-to-date gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500
Index along with continuing employee contributions, the Boston-
based firm said in a statement today, after reviewing 11 million
accounts managed by Fidelity.

“The third quarter actually moved us into positive
territory,” said Michael Doshier, vice president of Fidelity’s
workplace investing group. “I think that surprised, if not
everybody, a lot of people.”

Average account balances rose 13 percent to $60,700 from
June to September, Doshier said, and are up 28 percent from
$47,500 at the end of March. The gains include investment
returns, employee contributions and employer’s matches. A
typical 401(k) holds a mix of equities, bonds and cash.

The average balance was $58,400 at the end of September
2008. The S&P 500 Index lost 42 percent from Oct. 1, 2008, until
touching a low on March 9. The latest figures are 12 percent
below the average balance of $69,200 at the end of 2007,
according to an earlier Fidelity survey.

Twenty-seven percent of companies that suspended their
401(k) matching contributions are beginning to make those
payments again, according to Fidelity, the largest U.S.
administrator of 401(k) plans. Companies have either reinstated
the match or plan to do so in the next 12 months as the economy
recovers, Fidelity said.

Read more of this article.

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4 ways to face a cash-strapped retirement

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Jason

Bankrate, November 20th, 2009

Dear Debt Adviser,

Help, I’m about $30,000 in debt. I have about $50,000 in my retirement.
I will be 59½ years old in January. I had to go on disability from a
fall at work. My house is paid for. Should I just take money out and
pay off my loan? Could I just hire someone to (advise me)? I don’t know
what to do and am at my wits’ end. I am not behind on any bills.

Dear Doris,
You worry me. You are nearly 60, have saved little and spent much. Now
you are out of work and ask me if you should hire someone? My
suggestion is that you get rehired as soon as possible and develop a plan for building up your savings, paying down your debts and preparing for retirement.

Before
you say, “I don’t plan to retire for a long time,” consider that many
people end up having to retire before they plan to due to illness,
injury or job loss. You may be late getting started on a financial plan, but I suggest that you put one together now before it’s too late!

Let’s start with these four major moves:

  • Begin by setting some realistic goals, such as when you want to retire and how much you will need to do it.
  • Put together a budget that will allow you to save the money needed to meet your goals and begin to pay down your debt.
  • Find a financial planner to do some serious retirement planning.
  • Consider how you can use the equity in your home for debt repayment and retirement planning.

You
can get help with all of these tasks and it shouldn’t cost you
anything. A credit counselor can help you with goal-setting and
budgeting, a financial planner should do a review of your finances and
make suggestions and a local banker can help you understand what
options you have for tapping the equity in your home.

As
you are only three years away from 62, I especially want you to look
into how a reverse mortgage might fit into your plans. Simply put, a
reverse mortgage provides a monthly payment to you that extends your
income while you stay in your home. Most reverse mortgages require you to be at least 62 years old.

You asked if you should use your retirement money to pay off your debt. I don’t recommend that you tap into your retirement money
at this point. If your disability is permanent, then you need to
rebalance your budget to assure that your monthly expenses can be met
with your disability income. Should your disability not be permanent,
the sooner you can get back to full salary, the better.

Read more of this article.

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The importance of long term healthcare

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Jason

KGO News, November 18th, 2009

Can you afford NOT to have long term care? The long term care crisis and its impact on your family’s future financial security.

Long term care crisis:

The cost of long term
care can severely impact your family’s future financial security.
Requiring care in any setting is not a topic many of us want to talk
about, for obvious reasons. But the fact is, 40 percent of Americans
who need long term care are working age adults 18-64 – and this care
comes with a very steep price tag.

For example, according to recent data from Genworth Financial the
national average cost for one year of home care is more than $42,000.

According to Dr. Dychtwald’s research, the biggest financial worry
among the 55-and-older population is covering uninsured medical
expenses during retirement.

Dychtwald adds that today people
are living longer than ever before and this longevity revolution is
creating an unprecedented “age wave.” However, living longer creates a
greater possibility of health issues along the way and the burden of
care giving usually falls to the closest relative.

The key steps needed to secure financial peace of mind:

There
are three things that the average individual ought to be thinking about
when it comes to long-term care in terms of next steps.

  1. Talk to your family members, this shouldn’t be some sort of secret or
    something that people aren’t comfortable discussing. You know it’s…
    it’s a fact of life in this more lived era.

  2. Talk to
    a financial professional and that could be an insurance agent, a
    broker, an accountant, a lawyer, maybe you got a brother-in-law or a
    cousin who’s in the business, talk to them about long-term care.

  3. Don’t just leave it vague and in the mist, write it down, take steps, make a plan and then execute against that plan.

Read more of this article.

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His & Her Benefits: Getting Ex’s Social Security

Posted on November 18, 2009 by Jason

The Wall Street Journal, November 13th, 2009

Is it true that as a 64-year-old divorcee, who was married
for 13 years and hasn’t remarried, I would be eligible to collect half
of my ex-husband’s Social Security benefit? My ex-husband is 67 and has
been collecting full Social Security for more than a year. I have been
waiting to collect my full retirement benefit from Social Security
until age 66, rather than taking reduced benefits early.

If I could collect half of his benefit now, could I switch
to my own full benefit at 66? Then, could I switch again, to collect my
ex-husband’s full benefit, if he dies before I do? Also, could I
collect his benefits retroactively?

S.A. Reagan

Houston

You don’t have a choice between collecting your own benefit or your ex-spouse’s until you reach your full retirement age.

If you are between age 62, which is the youngest age at which you
can collect reduced retirement benefits through Social Security, and
your full retirement age, which varies based on the year you were born,
your application for benefits generally will be based on your earnings
record, says Dorothy Clark, a spokeswoman for the Social Security
Administration in Baltimore. If the portion of your ex-spouse’s benefit
to which you are entitled at the age you apply is greater than your
own, you could receive a benefit equal to that amount.

But if you wait until your full retirement age to file for Social
Security, you can restrict the scope of your application to your
ex-spouse’s benefit only, and continue to accrue credits for delaying
your own retirement benefit up to age 70, Ms. Clark says.

Read more of this article.

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Medicare Maze

Posted on November 18, 2009 by Jason

The Wall Street Journal, November14th, 2009

When Doug Foth, a retired accountant in Grandview, Wash., got ready to
sign up for Medicare last summer, he recruited his daughter, a human-
resources manager, to help him.

“We went through the Medicare Web site pretty thoroughly, and when
we got done, I’m not sure I knew any more than when I started,” says
Mr. Foth, 68 years old. “It’s very complex.”

He turned to one of a handful of services that have started up, or
expanded, in the past three years to help older adults choose from a
growing number of Medicare options. He paid $150 to a new service
called Allsup Medicare Advisor to sort out the possibilities—and got
help fending off a penalty for signing up after age 65.

Tomorrow marks the start of the six-week “open enrollment” season
for Medicare, during which people who use the health-insurance program
can make changes to almost every part of their coverage (with the
exception of Part A, which is basically hospital insurance).

The addition of Medicare’s prescription-drug benefit in 2006 and the
widespread loss of corporate retiree health benefits have made those
choices more complicated—and potentially more expensive—both for
current and would-be beneficiaries.

That’s why more services are stepping in to offer advice. Some
charge a fee; others are free to consumers but get commissions from
insurers. Still more services, mainly supported by the government and
nonprofit groups, provide more-limited online tools or telephone
counseling at no charge.

Where to start? Read through “Medicare & You 2010,” the
government’s overview of the program and your primary options. (Go to medicare.gov and look under “Learn More.”)

At that point, if you need help, you might want to combine free
tools with advice from a paid service. Here are some possibilities.

Read more of this article.

Supplemental Medicare Insurance: work with a pre-screened insurer
to find the right Medicare Advantage program for you and your medical
needs.

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Covering the Bases: Understanding the options if you’re new to Medicare

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Jason

Annapolis Capital, November 15th, 2009

Q: I am new to Medicare. I have my Medicare Part A and
Part B. I elected a Medigap plan to complement my Medicare A and B.
However, I am not on any medicines and so do not see the advantage for
enrolling in Medicare Part D. What are the advantages of having Part D?

A: Insurance is a contradiction. You pay good money
for something you hope you never need. We pay homeowner’s insurance and
hope we never have a fire. We pay auto insurance and hope we never have
a car accident. Health insurance is the same. We pay our premiums and
hope we never are in need of a doctor or a hospital.

The same is
true of Medicare Part D. Many people are not taking any prescriptions.
However, it is advisable they consider Part D. Many people are aware
that if they delay in enrolling in Medicare Part D they will incur a
penalty if they enroll at a later date.

However, the more
concerning scenario are the “healthy” people who forgo Medicare Part D
and then have an unfortunate, unexpected illness. The most poignant
illustration is a “healthy” person who is newly diagnosed with an
illness such as cancer, diabetes and/or heart disease. The medical
treatment of such illness can be extremely expensive. By having
prescription insurance, you are protecting yourself if you need
high-cost medicines.

Q: I am new to the
area. I have original Medicare and Medigap supplemental insurance. I
have already contacted Medicare to change my Part D to a Maryland plan.
My question is, how do I find a doctor in this area?

A:
Medicare has a wonderful database of providers. You may call
800-MEDICARE and they can assist you with finding a doctor. You may
also log on to www.medicare.gov and click on “Find a Provider in Your Area.” This tool allows you to search by location and by specialty.

Q:
My mother was admitted to a rehabilitation facility after her
hospitalization for her broken hip. She remained there for 35 days. I
was told her Medicare Part A covered up to 100 days of rehab. However
she received a bill for $2,002.50 for days 21 through 35. Why?

Read more of this article.

Supplemental Medicare Insurance: work with a pre-screened insurer
to find the right Medicare Advantage program for you and your medical
needs.

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The case against retirement

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Jason

MSNBC, November 15th, 2009

Ah, retirement! Before the 1950s it was
something only the wealthy could afford to do. Everyone else needed an
income, and most folks struggled to get by in the industrial economy as
their faculties deteriorated. Back in the days before 401(k)s—let alone
Social Security—older people faced the kind of pressures portrayed by
filmmaker D.W. Griffith in his melodramatic 1911 silent film What Shall We Do With Our Old?
It’s a sad tale of the setbacks endured by an elderly couple, the wife
ailing, the husband tossed off the assembly line to make way for a
younger worker.

Griffith
was one of many social activists calling for a social insurance system
to provide an income for the elderly. The social reformist dream became
reality with the 1935 Social Security Act, the spread of the corporate
defined benefit pension plan, and Medicare in 1965. For most workers
the last stage of life became a time of leisure, recreation, and
enjoyment.

The Age
of Retirement was one of America’s most successful social reforms ever.
But that era is over. A new vision of old age is emerging from the
trauma of the credit crunch and the Great Recession: Forget retirement.
Keep working.

A long time coming
Surveys
show that a majority of baby boomers say they want to work during their
golden years. They’re going to get their wish. The key question is no
longer “How early can I retire?” It’s “Why retire?”

Of
course, like all tectonic social and economic shifts, the trend isn’t
new. It has been building for the past three decades with the move away
from traditional pensions with their involuntary contributions and
steady payout for 401(k)-type plans with their voluntary contributions
and uncertain returns. We’re also living longer. That’s good news, but
it does mean that to maintain their standard of living the elderly have
to either earn a paycheck longer or save more—a lot more.

Read more of this article.

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