Boomer Dream Homes
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Seniors are exercising their fitness options
Seniors are exercising their fitness options
By Tiiffany Ray
The Birmingham (Ala.) News
Harold Finch, 76, lifts hand weights at the downtown YMCA in Birmingham, Ala. He says one of the biggest benefits of the SilverSneakers program is the social interaction.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — About a month ago, Emma J. Square took her first SilverSneakers exercise class at the YMCA as part of an ongoing effort to improve her health since having open-heart surgery in 2004.
She's liking the results.
"I think it's wonderful," said Square, 74. "I'm enjoying it immensely. It helps me get use of my arms and legs and not be stiff from just sitting around."
Square is among a growing number of seniors who are focusing greater attention on physical fitness. Various organizations are developing programs to meet the demand.
"More than anything else, it's a growing awareness that the boomers are booming, and you've got to keep them healthy," R. Michael Gall, a Huntsville-based senior-fitness expert, said of the trend. "And you can't keep them healthy just by feeding them pills."
By 2030, the U.S. will be home to 70 million people who are 65 or older, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. Jack Rejeski, a professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University, said that as the senior population booms, "it behooves everyone to pay attention to this now rather than wait until it's here."
Physical activity plays a significant role in countering the process of physical disablement, Rejeski said. A recent pilot study by researchers at Wake Forest and three other universities found that people 70 and older with some physical disability benefited substantially from a yearlong physical-activity program, particularly regarding mobility, he said.
Senior centers, churches and health clubs are becoming increasingly attentive to the needs of seniors.
Gold's Gym International recently partnered with AARP to market its gyms through the retiree organization, said Jeff Marks, vice president of operations for Gold's Gym of Birmingham.
SilverSneakers is a national program offered through participating health plans that provides seniors free gym memberships (participating sites can be found at www.silversneakers.com).
SilverSneakers classes combine strength, flexibility, balance and endurance training in a program that can be done sitting down. Jayme Creamer, fitness director for the downtown Birmingham YMCA, said some tentative SilverSneakers participants gradually have moved on to water aerobics, weight training and other exercises.
They've also made new friends. Harold Finch, 76, said one of the biggest benefits of SilverSneakers is the social interaction.
"I just enjoy the people, meeting the people," he said. "That's so wonderful, to see the smiles and the greetings. And then I just feel great. I don't mind eating that extra hamburger."
Gall, 70, said water aerobics and other water-based classes are popular among seniors and others with mobility problems because being in water relieves about 80 percent of body weight.
Tai chi also is popular, he said, because it requires little sweating but involves mobility, range of motion and balance — all critical areas for seniors.
Gall said all kinds of exercise can be modified to accommodate seniors of varying levels of physical ability, but "you've got to make it fun." He recommends walking, dancing and other activities in tune with seniors' daily lives.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
By Tiiffany Ray
The Birmingham (Ala.) News
Harold Finch, 76, lifts hand weights at the downtown YMCA in Birmingham, Ala. He says one of the biggest benefits of the SilverSneakers program is the social interaction.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — About a month ago, Emma J. Square took her first SilverSneakers exercise class at the YMCA as part of an ongoing effort to improve her health since having open-heart surgery in 2004.
She's liking the results.
"I think it's wonderful," said Square, 74. "I'm enjoying it immensely. It helps me get use of my arms and legs and not be stiff from just sitting around."
Square is among a growing number of seniors who are focusing greater attention on physical fitness. Various organizations are developing programs to meet the demand.
"More than anything else, it's a growing awareness that the boomers are booming, and you've got to keep them healthy," R. Michael Gall, a Huntsville-based senior-fitness expert, said of the trend. "And you can't keep them healthy just by feeding them pills."
By 2030, the U.S. will be home to 70 million people who are 65 or older, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. Jack Rejeski, a professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University, said that as the senior population booms, "it behooves everyone to pay attention to this now rather than wait until it's here."
Physical activity plays a significant role in countering the process of physical disablement, Rejeski said. A recent pilot study by researchers at Wake Forest and three other universities found that people 70 and older with some physical disability benefited substantially from a yearlong physical-activity program, particularly regarding mobility, he said.
Senior centers, churches and health clubs are becoming increasingly attentive to the needs of seniors.
Gold's Gym International recently partnered with AARP to market its gyms through the retiree organization, said Jeff Marks, vice president of operations for Gold's Gym of Birmingham.
SilverSneakers is a national program offered through participating health plans that provides seniors free gym memberships (participating sites can be found at www.silversneakers.com).
SilverSneakers classes combine strength, flexibility, balance and endurance training in a program that can be done sitting down. Jayme Creamer, fitness director for the downtown Birmingham YMCA, said some tentative SilverSneakers participants gradually have moved on to water aerobics, weight training and other exercises.
They've also made new friends. Harold Finch, 76, said one of the biggest benefits of SilverSneakers is the social interaction.
"I just enjoy the people, meeting the people," he said. "That's so wonderful, to see the smiles and the greetings. And then I just feel great. I don't mind eating that extra hamburger."
Gall, 70, said water aerobics and other water-based classes are popular among seniors and others with mobility problems because being in water relieves about 80 percent of body weight.
Tai chi also is popular, he said, because it requires little sweating but involves mobility, range of motion and balance — all critical areas for seniors.
Gall said all kinds of exercise can be modified to accommodate seniors of varying levels of physical ability, but "you've got to make it fun." He recommends walking, dancing and other activities in tune with seniors' daily lives.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Boomers Worrying About Aging Are Heading To The Bookstore
Boomers Worrying About Aging Are Heading To The Bookstore
By KORKY VANN | SPECIAL TO THE COURANT
November 15, 2007
In 2008, more than 3 million members of the Forever Young generation officially begin the journey into their golden years and indications are it's going to be a bumpy ride.
While studies show 64 percent of baby boomers claim they feel an average of 11 years younger than their actual age; more than two out of three also admit they suffer from muscle or joint pain once a week or more.
Two out of three Baby Boomers believe they will be a caregiver for an elderly parent or family member in the future (and a majority plan to provide that care at home), yet research indicates Boomers expect to spend large blocks of time traveling in their retirement.
Only about a third of Boomers expect that they will have to scale back their lifestyle during retirement; yet a substantial number of baby-boomer households have so far failed to accumulate significant savings.
One thing is for certain, when leading-edge Boomers start turning 62 in January, they'll be faced with a myriad of new challenges, including retirement decisions, health problems, care-giving responsibilities and financial issues.
"Boomers are getting into their 60s and they're starting to panic as they see those unmistakable signs of aging," says Sarah Bedell, owner of the Bookworm bookstore in West Hartford. "They've controlled every part of their lives up to now and they want to be able to control, or even avoid, old age as well. So they're seeking out as much information as they can find to try to hold off the inevitable."
In other words, like W.C. Fields, a lifetime agnostic who reportedly was discovered reading a Bible on his deathbed, Boomers are looking for a loophole. To assist the over-50 crowd on that quest, publishers are filling store shelves with new guides on healthy aging, avoiding memory loss, retirement, downsizing and other aging-related topics.
One of the most popular, according to Bedell, is "You Staying Young: The Owner's Manual for Extending Your Warranty," (Free Press, $26), by Drs. Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz. The pair, who wrote the best-selling "You: The Owner's Manual and "You: On a Diet,' are back with their top 10 secrets of staying young, ways to preserve mental acuity, ultimate longevity foods and even the "Seinfield approach" to anger management. (Do the opposite of what you immediately feel like doing, as George did in the sitcom when he wanted to turn is life around.)
"Carved in Sand: When Attention Fails and Memory Fades In Midlife," Harper Collins, $24.95), by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, helps Boomers understand just what it is that's going on "upstairs," how to fight back against middle-aged mental fog and how to get the very best performance from older brains. "Ultralongevity" (Little, Brown, $25.99) by Dr. Mark Liponis, medical director of the posh Canyon Ranch Health Resorts, explores the idea that the key to living a long, healthy life free from all aging-related illness is a well-managed immune system. His seven-step program is designed to calm the immune system, prevent, or even reverse, the aging process through diet, exercise, rest and other healthy behaviors and habits.
"The Power of Experience: Great Writers Over 50 on the Quest for a Lifetime of Meaning," (AARP/Sterling Publishing, $19.95), with an introduction by Gail Sheehy, is a celebration of the wisdom and clarity of those in "the afternoon of life." Such writers as Amy Tan, Sherwin B. Nuland, Richard Russo, Anne Tyler and dozens of others share the fine art of growing up and the power of experience to transform your life.
"The Boomer Century 1946-2046: How America's Most Influential Generation Changed Everything," (Springboard, $25.99), by Richard Crocker, features insights from the Me Generation and those who studied them and explores how boomers have transformed and continue to transform American society at every stage of their lives. "Healthy at 100: How You Can At Any Age Dramatically Increase Your Life Span and Your Health Span," (Ballentine Books, $14.95), by John Robbins shares the secrets of some of the world's healthiest, oldest people, including exercise, nutrition and strong personal relationships can increase longevity and vigor.
"I expect that this is a trend that's going to continue for a long time," says Bedell. "There's a receptive audience and millions more coming. We're going to see increasing numbers of these books as boomers head on throughout every stage of their lives."
Contact Korky Vann at kvann@courant.com
By KORKY VANN | SPECIAL TO THE COURANT
November 15, 2007
In 2008, more than 3 million members of the Forever Young generation officially begin the journey into their golden years and indications are it's going to be a bumpy ride.
While studies show 64 percent of baby boomers claim they feel an average of 11 years younger than their actual age; more than two out of three also admit they suffer from muscle or joint pain once a week or more.
Two out of three Baby Boomers believe they will be a caregiver for an elderly parent or family member in the future (and a majority plan to provide that care at home), yet research indicates Boomers expect to spend large blocks of time traveling in their retirement.
Only about a third of Boomers expect that they will have to scale back their lifestyle during retirement; yet a substantial number of baby-boomer households have so far failed to accumulate significant savings.
One thing is for certain, when leading-edge Boomers start turning 62 in January, they'll be faced with a myriad of new challenges, including retirement decisions, health problems, care-giving responsibilities and financial issues.
"Boomers are getting into their 60s and they're starting to panic as they see those unmistakable signs of aging," says Sarah Bedell, owner of the Bookworm bookstore in West Hartford. "They've controlled every part of their lives up to now and they want to be able to control, or even avoid, old age as well. So they're seeking out as much information as they can find to try to hold off the inevitable."
In other words, like W.C. Fields, a lifetime agnostic who reportedly was discovered reading a Bible on his deathbed, Boomers are looking for a loophole. To assist the over-50 crowd on that quest, publishers are filling store shelves with new guides on healthy aging, avoiding memory loss, retirement, downsizing and other aging-related topics.
One of the most popular, according to Bedell, is "You Staying Young: The Owner's Manual for Extending Your Warranty," (Free Press, $26), by Drs. Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz. The pair, who wrote the best-selling "You: The Owner's Manual and "You: On a Diet,' are back with their top 10 secrets of staying young, ways to preserve mental acuity, ultimate longevity foods and even the "Seinfield approach" to anger management. (Do the opposite of what you immediately feel like doing, as George did in the sitcom when he wanted to turn is life around.)
"Carved in Sand: When Attention Fails and Memory Fades In Midlife," Harper Collins, $24.95), by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, helps Boomers understand just what it is that's going on "upstairs," how to fight back against middle-aged mental fog and how to get the very best performance from older brains. "Ultralongevity" (Little, Brown, $25.99) by Dr. Mark Liponis, medical director of the posh Canyon Ranch Health Resorts, explores the idea that the key to living a long, healthy life free from all aging-related illness is a well-managed immune system. His seven-step program is designed to calm the immune system, prevent, or even reverse, the aging process through diet, exercise, rest and other healthy behaviors and habits.
"The Power of Experience: Great Writers Over 50 on the Quest for a Lifetime of Meaning," (AARP/Sterling Publishing, $19.95), with an introduction by Gail Sheehy, is a celebration of the wisdom and clarity of those in "the afternoon of life." Such writers as Amy Tan, Sherwin B. Nuland, Richard Russo, Anne Tyler and dozens of others share the fine art of growing up and the power of experience to transform your life.
"The Boomer Century 1946-2046: How America's Most Influential Generation Changed Everything," (Springboard, $25.99), by Richard Crocker, features insights from the Me Generation and those who studied them and explores how boomers have transformed and continue to transform American society at every stage of their lives. "Healthy at 100: How You Can At Any Age Dramatically Increase Your Life Span and Your Health Span," (Ballentine Books, $14.95), by John Robbins shares the secrets of some of the world's healthiest, oldest people, including exercise, nutrition and strong personal relationships can increase longevity and vigor.
"I expect that this is a trend that's going to continue for a long time," says Bedell. "There's a receptive audience and millions more coming. We're going to see increasing numbers of these books as boomers head on throughout every stage of their lives."
Contact Korky Vann at kvann@courant.com
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Boomers expect to keep working
Boomers expect to keep working
Few plan to retire early, but it may happen anyway
Jonathan Chevreau, Financial Post
Published: Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Early retirement isn't in the cards for most Baby Boomers, according to Montreal-based Desjardins Financial Security. Its poll of 1,505 Canadians finds the "all play and no work" variety of retirement is on the verge of extinction.
Among those already retired, 10% still work at least part-time, while 54% of workers beyond age 39 are planning a gradual retirement.
While Desjardins seems to conclude the Boomers' retirement experience will be different than their parents',Mercer worldwide partner Malcolm Hamilton is less sure. He says working Canadians may think they'll retire gradually but may one day discover they're tired of working, lose their jobs or no longer be healthy enough to work.
Generally, Desjardins finds the older people are when surveyed, the later the expected retirement age. Most say the ideal is 60 but university grads expect to work past the traditional retirement age of 65.
Desjardins senior vicepresident Monique Tremblay says the "ideal" retirement age is a moving target, especially for those who had children late in life.
More than 80% expect to be in debt when they enter retirement yet are complacent about it. Tremblay says they're indulging in "magical thinking." Few consider the long-term impact of inflation and "could be in for sticker shock when it comes to food, housing and other basic necessities."
Fidelity Investments Canada recently suggested retirees will need to replace at least 85% of the income they generated when working, a tad above the consensus 70%.
In an interview yesterday, Tremblay went one better, suggesting a 90% replacement ratio might be a suitable target for many Boomers. Every case is different: those who plan to travel the world and stay in plush hotels might need to replace 125% of their working incomes, Tremblay says.
Those who don't consider all possible risks may be in for an unpleasant surprise when they try to retire.
One is "market risk" -- the risk the stock market may fall just as you enter retirement with a portfolio heavy in stocks or equity funds.
York University finance professor Moshe Milevsky dubs this the "retirement risk zone."
Milevsky notes the sequence of returns early in retirement can dramatically shorten or lengthen the number of years portfolios can generate enough income to live on.
Another is longevity risk: the risk of outliving your savings. Dejardins finds only 38% worry about this.
One tool for mitigating this risk has been annuities. Desjardins has just unveiled a new variable annuity product called Helios. It aims to tackle some of these problems, although it's not mentioned in the survey. Unlike the lifetime 5% annual income promised by Manulife's Income Plus, Helios aims only to provide a 7% annual return for 14 years. But Tremblay says that could help people bridge the income gap between ages 51 and 65, when government pensions kick in. Or it would bridge the gap between 57 and age 71, when retirees begin to draw income from their newly established RRIFs.
Tremblay believes retail investors need financial advisors to help them plan retirement. But Desjardins' regional vice-president of sales Michael Aziz quips most put more time and care into planning an African safari. They take a "do-it-yourself " approach and fail to arm themselves with the "knowledgeable assistance" needed for a financially predictable retirement
Few plan to retire early, but it may happen anyway
Jonathan Chevreau, Financial Post
Published: Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Early retirement isn't in the cards for most Baby Boomers, according to Montreal-based Desjardins Financial Security. Its poll of 1,505 Canadians finds the "all play and no work" variety of retirement is on the verge of extinction.
Among those already retired, 10% still work at least part-time, while 54% of workers beyond age 39 are planning a gradual retirement.
While Desjardins seems to conclude the Boomers' retirement experience will be different than their parents',Mercer worldwide partner Malcolm Hamilton is less sure. He says working Canadians may think they'll retire gradually but may one day discover they're tired of working, lose their jobs or no longer be healthy enough to work.
Generally, Desjardins finds the older people are when surveyed, the later the expected retirement age. Most say the ideal is 60 but university grads expect to work past the traditional retirement age of 65.
Desjardins senior vicepresident Monique Tremblay says the "ideal" retirement age is a moving target, especially for those who had children late in life.
More than 80% expect to be in debt when they enter retirement yet are complacent about it. Tremblay says they're indulging in "magical thinking." Few consider the long-term impact of inflation and "could be in for sticker shock when it comes to food, housing and other basic necessities."
Fidelity Investments Canada recently suggested retirees will need to replace at least 85% of the income they generated when working, a tad above the consensus 70%.
In an interview yesterday, Tremblay went one better, suggesting a 90% replacement ratio might be a suitable target for many Boomers. Every case is different: those who plan to travel the world and stay in plush hotels might need to replace 125% of their working incomes, Tremblay says.
Those who don't consider all possible risks may be in for an unpleasant surprise when they try to retire.
One is "market risk" -- the risk the stock market may fall just as you enter retirement with a portfolio heavy in stocks or equity funds.
York University finance professor Moshe Milevsky dubs this the "retirement risk zone."
Milevsky notes the sequence of returns early in retirement can dramatically shorten or lengthen the number of years portfolios can generate enough income to live on.
Another is longevity risk: the risk of outliving your savings. Dejardins finds only 38% worry about this.
One tool for mitigating this risk has been annuities. Desjardins has just unveiled a new variable annuity product called Helios. It aims to tackle some of these problems, although it's not mentioned in the survey. Unlike the lifetime 5% annual income promised by Manulife's Income Plus, Helios aims only to provide a 7% annual return for 14 years. But Tremblay says that could help people bridge the income gap between ages 51 and 65, when government pensions kick in. Or it would bridge the gap between 57 and age 71, when retirees begin to draw income from their newly established RRIFs.
Tremblay believes retail investors need financial advisors to help them plan retirement. But Desjardins' regional vice-president of sales Michael Aziz quips most put more time and care into planning an African safari. They take a "do-it-yourself " approach and fail to arm themselves with the "knowledgeable assistance" needed for a financially predictable retirement
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Seniors can benefit if new center comes with outdoor space
Seniors can benefit if new center comes with outdoor space
November 4, 2007
There have been numerous discussions in recent months over whether Needham's new senior center should continue to be located within the downtown, or moved to a larger parcel of land outside of the downtown area called Ridge Hill.
Breaking News Alerts There are positive aspects for a Needham Center location, but the reality is any parcel chosen would require the senior center remain small with limited parking.
The town's Park and Recreation Commission supports having the center at a location that affords many opportunities for utilizing outdoor areas.
People who visit parks for longer periods of time have significantly lower systolic blood pressures than those who stay for short periods of time. Visitors who were more physically active and made frequent contact with friends through their leisure time were less likely to report feeling depressed. Also, visitors who view a park environment recover more quickly from stressful situations, including from health issues, and older adults who engaged in a broad repertoire of park and recreation activities were more likely to report higher levels of perceived physical health.
A new senior center with an outdoors component will enhance the program activities offered by Park and Recreation. Imagine the opportunities for exercise, to participate in the arts outdoors, and to view nature.
After being part of discussions about the location of a senior center for almost twenty years, the commission is excited that one is on its way, and hope an indoor and outdoor facility will become a reality.
Christopher R. Dollase
Chairman
Needham Park and
Recreation Commission
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
November 4, 2007
There have been numerous discussions in recent months over whether Needham's new senior center should continue to be located within the downtown, or moved to a larger parcel of land outside of the downtown area called Ridge Hill.
Breaking News Alerts There are positive aspects for a Needham Center location, but the reality is any parcel chosen would require the senior center remain small with limited parking.
The town's Park and Recreation Commission supports having the center at a location that affords many opportunities for utilizing outdoor areas.
People who visit parks for longer periods of time have significantly lower systolic blood pressures than those who stay for short periods of time. Visitors who were more physically active and made frequent contact with friends through their leisure time were less likely to report feeling depressed. Also, visitors who view a park environment recover more quickly from stressful situations, including from health issues, and older adults who engaged in a broad repertoire of park and recreation activities were more likely to report higher levels of perceived physical health.
A new senior center with an outdoors component will enhance the program activities offered by Park and Recreation. Imagine the opportunities for exercise, to participate in the arts outdoors, and to view nature.
After being part of discussions about the location of a senior center for almost twenty years, the commission is excited that one is on its way, and hope an indoor and outdoor facility will become a reality.
Christopher R. Dollase
Chairman
Needham Park and
Recreation Commission
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Gregg's baby boomer task force plan gets backing
Gregg's baby boomer task force plan gets backing
By JORDY YAGER
Special to the Union Leader
6 hours, 4 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – The country's budget crisis is a "fiscal cancer'' that threatens the nation's economic health, a leading expert told a Senate panel yesterday.
Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire has offered legislation to tackle the crisis by forming a bipartisan task force that would recommend to Congress ways to resolve the nation's spending and revenue imbalance.
The Senate Budget Committee heard testimony from experts yesterday in an attempt to identify weaknesses in the proposal and solidify support for the task force, which Gregg said would address "the single biggest domestic issue which we face as a nation as we move into the next 10 to 20 years."
David M. Walker, the U.S. comptroller general, told the committee, "We have been diagnosed with a fiscal cancer. We do not face an immediate heart attack, but that cancer is growing in us and it threatens our nation's economy, our standard of living and our national security."
Panelists at the hearing said the task force must deal with all of the issues surrounding the country's fiscal policies, including the rising cost of health care, Social Security costs, Medicare and Medicaid costs, retirement benefits and the need for Congress to take action.
"Everything has to be on the table," said Leon Panetta, former chief of staff to President Clinton and former chairman of the House Budget Committee. "If you make exceptions, if you try to exclude certain areas from being considered, then you're dooming the process from the beginning."
With the national debt already more than $9 trillion, the first of an estimated 70 million baby boomers filed for Social Security benefits Oct. 15. Social Security spending will grow by an estimated 50 percent over the next 40 years, according to a report earlier this year by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
But many politicians are wary of addressing the country's fiscal problems with legislation, which is why Gregg and Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota proposed the task force.
"You can understand why politicians are so fearful of the issue because if they do put a proposal on the street, it's so easily demagogued, and you can easily convince the elderly they'll be eating dog food because of this person's proposal," said Rudy Penner, a former Congressional Budget Office chief who is currently a senior fellow with the Urban Institute, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington.
The task force would be made up of seven senators and seven House members, the Secretary of the Treasury (who would chair the panel) and one other member designated by the president. In each chamber, four of the panel's members would be chosen by the majority party and three by the minority.
"There's very little dispute that the current fiscal policies are unsustainable and that future generations are at risk from inaction," said Robert L. Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a bipartisan fiscal advocacy group, at the hearing. "Too few of our elected leaders in Washington are unwilling to acknowledge the seriousness of the long-term fiscal problem and even fewer are willing to put it on the political agenda."
The task force would submit long-term policy recommendations by Dec. 9, 2008, and Congress would be given just five legislative days to accept or reject the proposals without change and on a three-fifths vote of approval in each chamber.
"The public is angry at the Congress, the administration, and basically what they're saying is enough is enough,'' said Bill Novelli, chief executive officer of AARP, an advocacy group for senior citizens. "And so I think extraordinary means are necessary. Business as usual is not going to get it done.''
Jordy Yager is an intern with the Boston University Washington News Service.
By JORDY YAGER
Special to the Union Leader
6 hours, 4 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – The country's budget crisis is a "fiscal cancer'' that threatens the nation's economic health, a leading expert told a Senate panel yesterday.
Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire has offered legislation to tackle the crisis by forming a bipartisan task force that would recommend to Congress ways to resolve the nation's spending and revenue imbalance.
The Senate Budget Committee heard testimony from experts yesterday in an attempt to identify weaknesses in the proposal and solidify support for the task force, which Gregg said would address "the single biggest domestic issue which we face as a nation as we move into the next 10 to 20 years."
David M. Walker, the U.S. comptroller general, told the committee, "We have been diagnosed with a fiscal cancer. We do not face an immediate heart attack, but that cancer is growing in us and it threatens our nation's economy, our standard of living and our national security."
Panelists at the hearing said the task force must deal with all of the issues surrounding the country's fiscal policies, including the rising cost of health care, Social Security costs, Medicare and Medicaid costs, retirement benefits and the need for Congress to take action.
"Everything has to be on the table," said Leon Panetta, former chief of staff to President Clinton and former chairman of the House Budget Committee. "If you make exceptions, if you try to exclude certain areas from being considered, then you're dooming the process from the beginning."
With the national debt already more than $9 trillion, the first of an estimated 70 million baby boomers filed for Social Security benefits Oct. 15. Social Security spending will grow by an estimated 50 percent over the next 40 years, according to a report earlier this year by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
But many politicians are wary of addressing the country's fiscal problems with legislation, which is why Gregg and Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota proposed the task force.
"You can understand why politicians are so fearful of the issue because if they do put a proposal on the street, it's so easily demagogued, and you can easily convince the elderly they'll be eating dog food because of this person's proposal," said Rudy Penner, a former Congressional Budget Office chief who is currently a senior fellow with the Urban Institute, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington.
The task force would be made up of seven senators and seven House members, the Secretary of the Treasury (who would chair the panel) and one other member designated by the president. In each chamber, four of the panel's members would be chosen by the majority party and three by the minority.
"There's very little dispute that the current fiscal policies are unsustainable and that future generations are at risk from inaction," said Robert L. Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a bipartisan fiscal advocacy group, at the hearing. "Too few of our elected leaders in Washington are unwilling to acknowledge the seriousness of the long-term fiscal problem and even fewer are willing to put it on the political agenda."
The task force would submit long-term policy recommendations by Dec. 9, 2008, and Congress would be given just five legislative days to accept or reject the proposals without change and on a three-fifths vote of approval in each chamber.
"The public is angry at the Congress, the administration, and basically what they're saying is enough is enough,'' said Bill Novelli, chief executive officer of AARP, an advocacy group for senior citizens. "And so I think extraordinary means are necessary. Business as usual is not going to get it done.''
Jordy Yager is an intern with the Boston University Washington News Service.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Baby boomers face their biggest challenge
MARY SANCHEZ COMMENTARY
Baby boomers face their biggest challenge
By MARY SANCHEZ
The panic strikes during the most mundane parts of my daily routine.
Dial mother’s house, the same number she has had for more than 40 years. And the phone rings ... and rings and rings. Has she fallen?
On the weekly grocery store trip, I feel the adrenaline for the 30 seconds I leave her alone at the curb so she doesn’t have to walk the uneven pavement of the parking lot. I rush to pull the car around — quickly, before some creep spies her as an easy target for a purse snatching.
Both of my parents reached this stage of life, when children are still children but become guardians for the simple reason that we can walk fast, turn quickly and lift the things that need to be lifted.
Father is gone five years now. Mother is bravely carrying on as her mobility wanes. “Frail” is the first word that usually comes out when friends inquire about my mother. Thankfully, it is usually followed by “witty” and “pretty spry for 87 years old.”
I thought of my mother when I heard the news that the first baby boomer has applied for Social Security benefits. For almost 62 years Kathleen Casey-Kirschling has had the distinction of being the nation’s oldest baby boomer. Now she’s retiring to a home in Maryland with her husband, who is also turning 62 next year.
What brought mother to mind was the realization that we do not as a nation grasp what this demographic shift will mean. Not financially, not legislatively, not emotionally. The baby boom generation of 80 million will soon enough be edging toward death. Who will care for them, and how?
By next year, 365 more boomers will join Casey-Kirschling every hour, turning 62 and becoming eligible to tap into Social Security.
The commissioner of Social Security is fond of referring to this new turn for the boomers as “America’s silver tsunami.” Tsunami, of course, never portends to anything positive.
In 10 more years, the pool of funds that is Social Security will be upended — meaning that more will be going out than will be coming in.
Medicare currently covers about 44 million people. By 2030, the number will be 79 million.
Technically, I’m a baby boomer as well, but barely. I arrived at the end of the birthing boom that lasted from 1946 to 1964. And so I expect to feel the effects of how society shifts as my elder boomers continue to age.
Few people want to discuss, much less fully plan for, their own demise quite as honestly as baby boomers need to right now. We’d all like to think that we will “grow old gracefully,” be able to look back on a “purpose-driven life” and a bookshelf full of other soothing clichés about aging.
Yet how many realize what the end is really like these days? We lurch toward death, suffering a fall, a stroke, a heart attack — and then recover. But often not to the same level of health as before, until the next medical incident and a little more physical strength is sapped. Dying really is a process.
It’s an expensive process as well, but the costs are not as apparent as they should be. According to AARP, 34 million people, usually women, provide an average 21 hours of uncompensated care a week to an elderly relative — a lot of them while still trying to work full-time. This has had an effect on productivity in the workplace and family finances.
Equally concerning is the fact that the average caregiver is a 46-year-old working woman. Often she will find it necessary to cut back on her own work to care for a relative, eroding her wages, benefits and the money she can offer her family. The danger is that, over the long term, people in this situation limit their ability to save for their own retirements.
With the vast demographic shift upon us, will this burden be too much to bear?
Baby boomers like to tout the impact they’ve had on every aspect of life — how they have changed the nation, often for the better, by ushering in new forms of equality, reforming education and even revolutionizing attitudes about aging (“40 is the new 30!”).
Soon the boomers will face their own mortality. Like my mother, everyone who reaches their “golden years” deserves to live them in dignity. But for that to happen, boomers need to begin seriously considering how they will live out their last years and, yes, how they will die.
It will be their greatest challenge yet.
To reach Mary Sanchez call 816-234-4752 or send email to msanchez@kcstar.com.
Baby boomers face their biggest challenge
By MARY SANCHEZ
The panic strikes during the most mundane parts of my daily routine.
Dial mother’s house, the same number she has had for more than 40 years. And the phone rings ... and rings and rings. Has she fallen?
On the weekly grocery store trip, I feel the adrenaline for the 30 seconds I leave her alone at the curb so she doesn’t have to walk the uneven pavement of the parking lot. I rush to pull the car around — quickly, before some creep spies her as an easy target for a purse snatching.
Both of my parents reached this stage of life, when children are still children but become guardians for the simple reason that we can walk fast, turn quickly and lift the things that need to be lifted.
Father is gone five years now. Mother is bravely carrying on as her mobility wanes. “Frail” is the first word that usually comes out when friends inquire about my mother. Thankfully, it is usually followed by “witty” and “pretty spry for 87 years old.”
I thought of my mother when I heard the news that the first baby boomer has applied for Social Security benefits. For almost 62 years Kathleen Casey-Kirschling has had the distinction of being the nation’s oldest baby boomer. Now she’s retiring to a home in Maryland with her husband, who is also turning 62 next year.
What brought mother to mind was the realization that we do not as a nation grasp what this demographic shift will mean. Not financially, not legislatively, not emotionally. The baby boom generation of 80 million will soon enough be edging toward death. Who will care for them, and how?
By next year, 365 more boomers will join Casey-Kirschling every hour, turning 62 and becoming eligible to tap into Social Security.
The commissioner of Social Security is fond of referring to this new turn for the boomers as “America’s silver tsunami.” Tsunami, of course, never portends to anything positive.
In 10 more years, the pool of funds that is Social Security will be upended — meaning that more will be going out than will be coming in.
Medicare currently covers about 44 million people. By 2030, the number will be 79 million.
Technically, I’m a baby boomer as well, but barely. I arrived at the end of the birthing boom that lasted from 1946 to 1964. And so I expect to feel the effects of how society shifts as my elder boomers continue to age.
Few people want to discuss, much less fully plan for, their own demise quite as honestly as baby boomers need to right now. We’d all like to think that we will “grow old gracefully,” be able to look back on a “purpose-driven life” and a bookshelf full of other soothing clichés about aging.
Yet how many realize what the end is really like these days? We lurch toward death, suffering a fall, a stroke, a heart attack — and then recover. But often not to the same level of health as before, until the next medical incident and a little more physical strength is sapped. Dying really is a process.
It’s an expensive process as well, but the costs are not as apparent as they should be. According to AARP, 34 million people, usually women, provide an average 21 hours of uncompensated care a week to an elderly relative — a lot of them while still trying to work full-time. This has had an effect on productivity in the workplace and family finances.
Equally concerning is the fact that the average caregiver is a 46-year-old working woman. Often she will find it necessary to cut back on her own work to care for a relative, eroding her wages, benefits and the money she can offer her family. The danger is that, over the long term, people in this situation limit their ability to save for their own retirements.
With the vast demographic shift upon us, will this burden be too much to bear?
Baby boomers like to tout the impact they’ve had on every aspect of life — how they have changed the nation, often for the better, by ushering in new forms of equality, reforming education and even revolutionizing attitudes about aging (“40 is the new 30!”).
Soon the boomers will face their own mortality. Like my mother, everyone who reaches their “golden years” deserves to live them in dignity. But for that to happen, boomers need to begin seriously considering how they will live out their last years and, yes, how they will die.
It will be their greatest challenge yet.
To reach Mary Sanchez call 816-234-4752 or send email to msanchez@kcstar.com.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Baby boomers a 'wasteful generation': ageing summit
Baby boomers a 'wasteful generation': ageing summit
Posted 11 hours 10 minutes ago
A two-day summit on the ageing population in New South Wales has been told reform is needed to deal with the huge number of older people expected by the year 2030.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma told the summit that in a decade's time there will be more people over the age of 65 than under 14.
Population forecaster Phil Ruthven also addressed the summit, saying the baby boomer generation has been wasteful.
"Probably only about one third of baby boomers have saved or invested enough to retire on a comfortable income," he said.
"The other two thirds are going to be dependent on some of welfare, pensions and certainly health care services."
Posted 11 hours 10 minutes ago
A two-day summit on the ageing population in New South Wales has been told reform is needed to deal with the huge number of older people expected by the year 2030.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma told the summit that in a decade's time there will be more people over the age of 65 than under 14.
Population forecaster Phil Ruthven also addressed the summit, saying the baby boomer generation has been wasteful.
"Probably only about one third of baby boomers have saved or invested enough to retire on a comfortable income," he said.
"The other two thirds are going to be dependent on some of welfare, pensions and certainly health care services."
Microsoft, Miami Offer Seniors Free Computer Training, Customized PCs
Microsoft, Miami Offer Seniors Free Computer Training, Customized PCs
New technology packages from Microsoft, tailored to seniors, complement training at neighborhood senior centers in Miami.
October 29, 2007: 12:00 PM EST
MIAMI, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. and the City of Miami -- both leaders in digital inclusion -- today announced eSeniors, a public-private partnership that will provide free computer training and the opportunity to purchase customized technology packages to Miami seniors at learning hubs located in neighborhood senior centers throughout the city.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
"eSeniors aims to provide Miami seniors with technology tools and training that can empower them to improve their quality of life, simplify many everyday tasks, access community and government services more easily, and participate fully in our increasingly digital society," said Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.
The eSeniors program is part of ELEVATE Miami, a broad initiative designed to enable all Miami residents to participate and compete in the digital economy. For eSeniors, the City of Miami is providing free training and computer access at senior centers, using recycled computers equipped with the Windows XP operating system, the Microsoft Office system and Microsoft Encarta. In June 2007, Mayor Diaz received the prestigious City Livability Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors in recognition of ELEVATE Miami's comprehensive and innovative approach to the reduction of poverty, which includes digital inclusion as one of its four cornerstones.
"As personal computers and the Internet become increasingly important in our society, many seniors are being left out, not because of too little interest but because of too little access and too few opportunities to learn the necessary skills," said Rob Sinclair, director of the Accessibility Business Unit at Microsoft. "Miami is providing a model for other cities to follow by making it easy for seniors to get the tools and training they need to gain full membership in today's digital lifestyle."
New Senior PC Technology Packages Available Online
As part of the eSeniors initiative, Microsoft is releasing several technology packages tailored to the needs and interests of seniors. The new technology packages are available to seniors who want to purchase a computer of their own, or to adult children who may want to buy a computer for their parents.
People can choose either a desktop or notebook HP computer running Windows Vista and Microsoft productivity software geared toward seniors. In addition, the senior PC packages come with a color printer and software applications designed to help seniors manage their household tasks, keep track of their prescriptions, and sharpen memory with games. Seniors can also choose a larger keyboard or trackball mouse for easier typing and mouse pointing. One package, available only in a desktop model, includes the Spanish-language version of Windows Vista.
All the technology packages can be purchased online at http://www.microsoft.com/enable/aging/seniorpc.aspx. To make the technology packages more affordable, any Miami senior who completes the city's training program will receive a voucher to help offset the cost of purchasing a computer for his or her home.
Microsoft and City of Miami Partnership Empowers Seniors
For Microsoft and Miami, the new eSeniors program is an extension of longstanding commitments to digital inclusion and service to seniors, and their shared belief that technology can serve as an equalizer for people of all ages, removing workplace barriers and increasing employment opportunities while reducing social isolation.
"Gaining new technology skills and access to accessible technology will give many seniors a wider range of social and economic opportunities, enabling them to change careers, work part-time, stay employed longer, and expand their ability to contribute to their communities through volunteering," said Lori Parham, Florida state director for AARP. "By bringing seniors into the digital age, Microsoft and Miami are empowering them with more choices about how they live their lives."
In addition to being part of ELEVATE Miami, eSeniors is an extension of the successful eParks program that began in 2004 and now offers technology training and computer access to children, their parents and other Miami residents at 27 city parks. To reach seniors more effectively, the city decided to set up similar learning hubs in senior centers, starting with two centers to establish the model, and expanding to 10 senior centers by early 2008.
"Mayor Diaz and the Miami city commissioners have shown tremendous vision in reaching beyond traditional strategies to find creative ways to help the people of Miami participate in the digital age," Sinclair said. "Microsoft is proud to partner with the City of Miami on providing seniors with new opportunities, and we look forward to working on similar initiatives with other U.S. cities."
City of Miami
Elevate Miami is a program that prepares all residents of Miami for a leadership position in the global economy, creating unparalleled areas of opportunity by establishing public and private partnerships which facilitate access to affordable technology, including mobile and low-cost internet access, and therefore enhancing the quality of life for all Miamians. ELEVATE MIAMI seeks to reach this goal through a multi-faceted approach that incorporates the following: eParks -- equips 27 City of Miami parks with 264 computers and offers open lab hours available to all residents; eSenior Centers -- equips senior centers with computers and offers computer literacy training to the elderly (currently available in 2 senior centers with 142 seniors attending training); Education Compact -- creates a Curriculum for all sixth graders which integrates technology and life experiences. If students meet the expectations of the program, they will earn a computer.
About Unlimited Potential
Microsoft Unlimited Potential expands and accelerates Microsoft's commitment to facilitate sustained social and economic opportunity for the more than 5 billion people living in every country around the world who do not today benefit from technology. More information about Unlimited Potential is available at http://www.microsoft.com/unlimitedpotential.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
For more information about Microsoft and Miami computer access programs for seniors, please visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/aging
http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/digitalinclusion.mspx
http://www.elevatemiami.com
New technology packages from Microsoft, tailored to seniors, complement training at neighborhood senior centers in Miami.
October 29, 2007: 12:00 PM EST
MIAMI, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. and the City of Miami -- both leaders in digital inclusion -- today announced eSeniors, a public-private partnership that will provide free computer training and the opportunity to purchase customized technology packages to Miami seniors at learning hubs located in neighborhood senior centers throughout the city.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
"eSeniors aims to provide Miami seniors with technology tools and training that can empower them to improve their quality of life, simplify many everyday tasks, access community and government services more easily, and participate fully in our increasingly digital society," said Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.
The eSeniors program is part of ELEVATE Miami, a broad initiative designed to enable all Miami residents to participate and compete in the digital economy. For eSeniors, the City of Miami is providing free training and computer access at senior centers, using recycled computers equipped with the Windows XP operating system, the Microsoft Office system and Microsoft Encarta. In June 2007, Mayor Diaz received the prestigious City Livability Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors in recognition of ELEVATE Miami's comprehensive and innovative approach to the reduction of poverty, which includes digital inclusion as one of its four cornerstones.
"As personal computers and the Internet become increasingly important in our society, many seniors are being left out, not because of too little interest but because of too little access and too few opportunities to learn the necessary skills," said Rob Sinclair, director of the Accessibility Business Unit at Microsoft. "Miami is providing a model for other cities to follow by making it easy for seniors to get the tools and training they need to gain full membership in today's digital lifestyle."
New Senior PC Technology Packages Available Online
As part of the eSeniors initiative, Microsoft is releasing several technology packages tailored to the needs and interests of seniors. The new technology packages are available to seniors who want to purchase a computer of their own, or to adult children who may want to buy a computer for their parents.
People can choose either a desktop or notebook HP computer running Windows Vista and Microsoft productivity software geared toward seniors. In addition, the senior PC packages come with a color printer and software applications designed to help seniors manage their household tasks, keep track of their prescriptions, and sharpen memory with games. Seniors can also choose a larger keyboard or trackball mouse for easier typing and mouse pointing. One package, available only in a desktop model, includes the Spanish-language version of Windows Vista.
All the technology packages can be purchased online at http://www.microsoft.com/enable/aging/seniorpc.aspx. To make the technology packages more affordable, any Miami senior who completes the city's training program will receive a voucher to help offset the cost of purchasing a computer for his or her home.
Microsoft and City of Miami Partnership Empowers Seniors
For Microsoft and Miami, the new eSeniors program is an extension of longstanding commitments to digital inclusion and service to seniors, and their shared belief that technology can serve as an equalizer for people of all ages, removing workplace barriers and increasing employment opportunities while reducing social isolation.
"Gaining new technology skills and access to accessible technology will give many seniors a wider range of social and economic opportunities, enabling them to change careers, work part-time, stay employed longer, and expand their ability to contribute to their communities through volunteering," said Lori Parham, Florida state director for AARP. "By bringing seniors into the digital age, Microsoft and Miami are empowering them with more choices about how they live their lives."
In addition to being part of ELEVATE Miami, eSeniors is an extension of the successful eParks program that began in 2004 and now offers technology training and computer access to children, their parents and other Miami residents at 27 city parks. To reach seniors more effectively, the city decided to set up similar learning hubs in senior centers, starting with two centers to establish the model, and expanding to 10 senior centers by early 2008.
"Mayor Diaz and the Miami city commissioners have shown tremendous vision in reaching beyond traditional strategies to find creative ways to help the people of Miami participate in the digital age," Sinclair said. "Microsoft is proud to partner with the City of Miami on providing seniors with new opportunities, and we look forward to working on similar initiatives with other U.S. cities."
City of Miami
Elevate Miami is a program that prepares all residents of Miami for a leadership position in the global economy, creating unparalleled areas of opportunity by establishing public and private partnerships which facilitate access to affordable technology, including mobile and low-cost internet access, and therefore enhancing the quality of life for all Miamians. ELEVATE MIAMI seeks to reach this goal through a multi-faceted approach that incorporates the following: eParks -- equips 27 City of Miami parks with 264 computers and offers open lab hours available to all residents; eSenior Centers -- equips senior centers with computers and offers computer literacy training to the elderly (currently available in 2 senior centers with 142 seniors attending training); Education Compact -- creates a Curriculum for all sixth graders which integrates technology and life experiences. If students meet the expectations of the program, they will earn a computer.
About Unlimited Potential
Microsoft Unlimited Potential expands and accelerates Microsoft's commitment to facilitate sustained social and economic opportunity for the more than 5 billion people living in every country around the world who do not today benefit from technology. More information about Unlimited Potential is available at http://www.microsoft.com/unlimitedpotential.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
For more information about Microsoft and Miami computer access programs for seniors, please visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/aging
http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/digitalinclusion.mspx
http://www.elevatemiami.com
Baby boomers face their biggest challenge
Baby boomers face their biggest challenge
By MARY SANCHEZ
The panic strikes during the most mundane parts of my daily routine.
Dial mother’s house, the same number she has had for more than 40 years. And the phone rings ... and rings and rings. Has she fallen?
On the weekly grocery store trip, I feel the adrenaline for the 30 seconds I leave her alone at the curb so she doesn’t have to walk the uneven pavement of the parking lot. I rush to pull the car around — quickly, before some creep spies her as an easy target for a purse snatching.
Both of my parents reached this stage of life, when children are still children but become guardians for the simple reason that we can walk fast, turn quickly and lift the things that need to be lifted.
Father is gone five years now. Mother is bravely carrying on as her mobility wanes. “Frail” is the first word that usually comes out when friends inquire about my mother. Thankfully, it is usually followed by “witty” and “pretty spry for 87 years old.”
I thought of my mother when I heard the news that the first baby boomer has applied for Social Security benefits. For almost 62 years Kathleen Casey-Kirschling has had the distinction of being the nation’s oldest baby boomer. Now she’s retiring to a home in Maryland with her husband, who is also turning 62 next year.
What brought mother to mind was the realization that we do not as a nation grasp what this demographic shift will mean. Not financially, not legislatively, not emotionally. The baby boom generation of 80 million will soon enough be edging toward death. Who will care for them, and how?
By next year, 365 more boomers will join Casey-Kirschling every hour, turning 62 and becoming eligible to tap into Social Security.
The commissioner of Social Security is fond of referring to this new turn for the boomers as “America’s silver tsunami.” Tsunami, of course, never portends to anything positive.
In 10 more years, the pool of funds that is Social Security will be upended — meaning that more will be going out than will be coming in.
Medicare currently covers about 44 million people. By 2030, the number will be 79 million.
Technically, I’m a baby boomer as well, but barely. I arrived at the end of the birthing boom that lasted from 1946 to 1964. And so I expect to feel the effects of how society shifts as my elder boomers continue to age.
Few people want to discuss, much less fully plan for, their own demise quite as honestly as baby boomers need to right now. We’d all like to think that we will “grow old gracefully,” be able to look back on a “purpose-driven life” and a bookshelf full of other soothing clichés about aging.
Yet how many realize what the end is really like these days? We lurch toward death, suffering a fall, a stroke, a heart attack — and then recover. But often not to the same level of health as before, until the next medical incident and a little more physical strength is sapped. Dying really is a process.
It’s an expensive process as well, but the costs are not as apparent as they should be. According to AARP, 34 million people, usually women, provide an average 21 hours of uncompensated care a week to an elderly relative — a lot of them while still trying to work full-time. This has had an effect on productivity in the workplace and family finances.
Equally concerning is the fact that the average caregiver is a 46-year-old working woman. Often she will find it necessary to cut back on her own work to care for a relative, eroding her wages, benefits and the money she can offer her family. The danger is that, over the long term, people in this situation limit their ability to save for their own retirements.
With the vast demographic shift upon us, will this burden be too much to bear?
Baby boomers like to tout the impact they’ve had on every aspect of life — how they have changed the nation, often for the better, by ushering in new forms of equality, reforming education and even revolutionizing attitudes about aging (“40 is the new 30!”).
Soon the boomers will face their own mortality. Like my mother, everyone who reaches their “golden years” deserves to live them in dignity. But for that to happen, boomers need to begin seriously considering how they will live out their last years and, yes, how they will die.
It will be their greatest challenge yet.
By MARY SANCHEZ
The panic strikes during the most mundane parts of my daily routine.
Dial mother’s house, the same number she has had for more than 40 years. And the phone rings ... and rings and rings. Has she fallen?
On the weekly grocery store trip, I feel the adrenaline for the 30 seconds I leave her alone at the curb so she doesn’t have to walk the uneven pavement of the parking lot. I rush to pull the car around — quickly, before some creep spies her as an easy target for a purse snatching.
Both of my parents reached this stage of life, when children are still children but become guardians for the simple reason that we can walk fast, turn quickly and lift the things that need to be lifted.
Father is gone five years now. Mother is bravely carrying on as her mobility wanes. “Frail” is the first word that usually comes out when friends inquire about my mother. Thankfully, it is usually followed by “witty” and “pretty spry for 87 years old.”
I thought of my mother when I heard the news that the first baby boomer has applied for Social Security benefits. For almost 62 years Kathleen Casey-Kirschling has had the distinction of being the nation’s oldest baby boomer. Now she’s retiring to a home in Maryland with her husband, who is also turning 62 next year.
What brought mother to mind was the realization that we do not as a nation grasp what this demographic shift will mean. Not financially, not legislatively, not emotionally. The baby boom generation of 80 million will soon enough be edging toward death. Who will care for them, and how?
By next year, 365 more boomers will join Casey-Kirschling every hour, turning 62 and becoming eligible to tap into Social Security.
The commissioner of Social Security is fond of referring to this new turn for the boomers as “America’s silver tsunami.” Tsunami, of course, never portends to anything positive.
In 10 more years, the pool of funds that is Social Security will be upended — meaning that more will be going out than will be coming in.
Medicare currently covers about 44 million people. By 2030, the number will be 79 million.
Technically, I’m a baby boomer as well, but barely. I arrived at the end of the birthing boom that lasted from 1946 to 1964. And so I expect to feel the effects of how society shifts as my elder boomers continue to age.
Few people want to discuss, much less fully plan for, their own demise quite as honestly as baby boomers need to right now. We’d all like to think that we will “grow old gracefully,” be able to look back on a “purpose-driven life” and a bookshelf full of other soothing clichés about aging.
Yet how many realize what the end is really like these days? We lurch toward death, suffering a fall, a stroke, a heart attack — and then recover. But often not to the same level of health as before, until the next medical incident and a little more physical strength is sapped. Dying really is a process.
It’s an expensive process as well, but the costs are not as apparent as they should be. According to AARP, 34 million people, usually women, provide an average 21 hours of uncompensated care a week to an elderly relative — a lot of them while still trying to work full-time. This has had an effect on productivity in the workplace and family finances.
Equally concerning is the fact that the average caregiver is a 46-year-old working woman. Often she will find it necessary to cut back on her own work to care for a relative, eroding her wages, benefits and the money she can offer her family. The danger is that, over the long term, people in this situation limit their ability to save for their own retirements.
With the vast demographic shift upon us, will this burden be too much to bear?
Baby boomers like to tout the impact they’ve had on every aspect of life — how they have changed the nation, often for the better, by ushering in new forms of equality, reforming education and even revolutionizing attitudes about aging (“40 is the new 30!”).
Soon the boomers will face their own mortality. Like my mother, everyone who reaches their “golden years” deserves to live them in dignity. But for that to happen, boomers need to begin seriously considering how they will live out their last years and, yes, how they will die.
It will be their greatest challenge yet.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
B.C. Article
Seniors in our cities -- B.C. leads the nation
We're home to some of the most 'elderly' in Canada
Chad Skelton and Darah Hansen, Vancouver SunPublished: Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Qualicum Beach has more elderly people than any other small town in Canada, - 41 per cent of the population is 65 and over - and Sophia Thornley couldn't be happier about it.
"You know that television show Cheers, where they say it's a place where everyone knows your name?" Thornley said Tuesday.
"Well, we all joke that this is a place where everyone forgets your name," said the 81-year-old, who moved to Qualicum Beach from Victoria in 1996.
Thornley said the small town offers everything she ever thought she wanted and more, including a new husband, Donald Nix, who she just married in December.
Email to a friendPrinter friendly
Font:
*
*
*
*
"We're just lucky that we found each other. We laugh a lot together and it's just been very nice," Thornley said. Statistics Canada released figures Tuesday showing B.C. is home to some of the most elderly communities in Canada, including several where more than a third of the population is aged 65 and over.
New data from the 2006 national census reveals B.C. is only the fifth-most elderly province in Canada, with 14.6 per cent of our population 65 and older, just slightly ahead of the national average of 13.7 per cent.
But Canada's most elderly big city, mid-sized city and small town are all located in B.C. Of Canada's 33 major cities, Kelowna has the highest proportion of seniors, with nearly one in five of its residents (19 per cent) 65 and over.
Among Canada's mid-sized cities, Parksville is the oldest - with more than a third of its population (33.8 per cent) 65 and over and one-tenth of its residents over 80.
And tiny Qualicum Beach (population 8,500) is the oldest small town in the country, with a whopping 41 per cent of its residents 65 and over.
Indeed, according to Statistics Canada, fully half of the 10 oldest communities in Canada with more than 5,000 residents are in B.C. - including Qualicum Beach and Parksville, but also Sidney, White Rock and Trail.
Don McRae, director of BC Stats, said the figures reflect the fact that many places in B.C. have become prime retirement destinations for seniors from across Canada.
McRae said the province's mild climate is probably the main attraction for winter-weary seniors. But he also said once a community like Parksville or Kelowna gets a critical mass of seniors - and services - it becomes an even more attractive destination.
In Qualicum Beach, Thornley is an active member of the Qualicum Beach Seniors' Activity Centre, which boasts about 700 members 55 and older, including 27 members over the age of 90, and she said there's not much risk of Qualicum's seniors getting lonely or bored.
"We love coming to the seniors' centre," she said. "It has an ambience of being friendly. You come in for coffee and a real good laugh."
She also enjoys Qualicum's wide network of walking trails, lively amateur theatre scene and art gallery. "There are all sorts of things for seniors here," she said. Kelowna politicians are also well aware of its growing seniors population. In 2006, the city commissioned a strategy to specifically address seniors' needs in the community, including building more walking trails and community gardens, as well as increasing parking space for motorized scooters.
While the vast majority of B.C.'s most elderly towns got that way because seniors moved in, McRae noted that in some cases it's because everyone else moved away.
In the mining town of Trail, for example, the number of children has dropped 13 per cent over the past five years. McRae said, unlike destination resorts like Qualicum, Trail is getting older because young people are moving away to find work - while those who lived there all their lives have stayed put.
While Tuesday's census figures show B.C. dominates the list of most elderly cities and towns, a few of the province's municipalities also made the list of the nation's youngest.
Abbotsford is the third-youngest big city in the country with fully one-fifth of its residents under the age of 15. And Fort St. John is the nation's ninth-youngest mid-sized city, with 21.7 per cent of its residents under 15. According to Statistics Canada, B.C. has historically had an older population than the rest of the country, a product of our higher life expectancy and lower birth rate.
And that trend is continuing. Between 2001 and 2006, according to the census, the number of B.C. residents 65 and over jumped 12.5 per cent while the number of children under 15 dropped 3.7 per cent.
B.C.'s median age - the point at which exactly half of the population is older and half is younger - also surpassed 40 for the first time in 2006 and now stands at 40.8.
Not surprisingly, the 2006 census indicates that Canada's population continues to age as the baby boomers near retirement.
Indeed, the number of Canadians aged 55 to 64 jumped a staggering 28.1 per cent since the 2001 census. Many of B.C.'s oldest communities, like Kelowna and Victoria, have been retirement destinations for decades. But one of the interesting things about Tuesday's figures is that several communities in B.C. have seen dramatic changes in their population just since the 2001 census.
For example, while Whistler is the most youthful city in all of B.C., with just 3.8 per cent of residents 65 and over, it also has the fastest growing retirement community in the entire province.
In just the past five years alone, according to the census, the number of retirement-age people in Whistler has jumped a whopping 62 per cent - to 350.
And while Victoria is one of the most elderly cities in Canada, it is also one of only six municipalities in B.C. that actually saw its senior population decline in 2006 - albeit by just 0.9 per cent.
© Vancouver Sun 2007
We're home to some of the most 'elderly' in Canada
Chad Skelton and Darah Hansen, Vancouver SunPublished: Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Qualicum Beach has more elderly people than any other small town in Canada, - 41 per cent of the population is 65 and over - and Sophia Thornley couldn't be happier about it.
"You know that television show Cheers, where they say it's a place where everyone knows your name?" Thornley said Tuesday.
"Well, we all joke that this is a place where everyone forgets your name," said the 81-year-old, who moved to Qualicum Beach from Victoria in 1996.
Thornley said the small town offers everything she ever thought she wanted and more, including a new husband, Donald Nix, who she just married in December.
Email to a friendPrinter friendly
Font:
*
*
*
*
"We're just lucky that we found each other. We laugh a lot together and it's just been very nice," Thornley said. Statistics Canada released figures Tuesday showing B.C. is home to some of the most elderly communities in Canada, including several where more than a third of the population is aged 65 and over.
New data from the 2006 national census reveals B.C. is only the fifth-most elderly province in Canada, with 14.6 per cent of our population 65 and older, just slightly ahead of the national average of 13.7 per cent.
But Canada's most elderly big city, mid-sized city and small town are all located in B.C. Of Canada's 33 major cities, Kelowna has the highest proportion of seniors, with nearly one in five of its residents (19 per cent) 65 and over.
Among Canada's mid-sized cities, Parksville is the oldest - with more than a third of its population (33.8 per cent) 65 and over and one-tenth of its residents over 80.
And tiny Qualicum Beach (population 8,500) is the oldest small town in the country, with a whopping 41 per cent of its residents 65 and over.
Indeed, according to Statistics Canada, fully half of the 10 oldest communities in Canada with more than 5,000 residents are in B.C. - including Qualicum Beach and Parksville, but also Sidney, White Rock and Trail.
Don McRae, director of BC Stats, said the figures reflect the fact that many places in B.C. have become prime retirement destinations for seniors from across Canada.
McRae said the province's mild climate is probably the main attraction for winter-weary seniors. But he also said once a community like Parksville or Kelowna gets a critical mass of seniors - and services - it becomes an even more attractive destination.
In Qualicum Beach, Thornley is an active member of the Qualicum Beach Seniors' Activity Centre, which boasts about 700 members 55 and older, including 27 members over the age of 90, and she said there's not much risk of Qualicum's seniors getting lonely or bored.
"We love coming to the seniors' centre," she said. "It has an ambience of being friendly. You come in for coffee and a real good laugh."
She also enjoys Qualicum's wide network of walking trails, lively amateur theatre scene and art gallery. "There are all sorts of things for seniors here," she said. Kelowna politicians are also well aware of its growing seniors population. In 2006, the city commissioned a strategy to specifically address seniors' needs in the community, including building more walking trails and community gardens, as well as increasing parking space for motorized scooters.
While the vast majority of B.C.'s most elderly towns got that way because seniors moved in, McRae noted that in some cases it's because everyone else moved away.
In the mining town of Trail, for example, the number of children has dropped 13 per cent over the past five years. McRae said, unlike destination resorts like Qualicum, Trail is getting older because young people are moving away to find work - while those who lived there all their lives have stayed put.
While Tuesday's census figures show B.C. dominates the list of most elderly cities and towns, a few of the province's municipalities also made the list of the nation's youngest.
Abbotsford is the third-youngest big city in the country with fully one-fifth of its residents under the age of 15. And Fort St. John is the nation's ninth-youngest mid-sized city, with 21.7 per cent of its residents under 15. According to Statistics Canada, B.C. has historically had an older population than the rest of the country, a product of our higher life expectancy and lower birth rate.
And that trend is continuing. Between 2001 and 2006, according to the census, the number of B.C. residents 65 and over jumped 12.5 per cent while the number of children under 15 dropped 3.7 per cent.
B.C.'s median age - the point at which exactly half of the population is older and half is younger - also surpassed 40 for the first time in 2006 and now stands at 40.8.
Not surprisingly, the 2006 census indicates that Canada's population continues to age as the baby boomers near retirement.
Indeed, the number of Canadians aged 55 to 64 jumped a staggering 28.1 per cent since the 2001 census. Many of B.C.'s oldest communities, like Kelowna and Victoria, have been retirement destinations for decades. But one of the interesting things about Tuesday's figures is that several communities in B.C. have seen dramatic changes in their population just since the 2001 census.
For example, while Whistler is the most youthful city in all of B.C., with just 3.8 per cent of residents 65 and over, it also has the fastest growing retirement community in the entire province.
In just the past five years alone, according to the census, the number of retirement-age people in Whistler has jumped a whopping 62 per cent - to 350.
And while Victoria is one of the most elderly cities in Canada, it is also one of only six municipalities in B.C. that actually saw its senior population decline in 2006 - albeit by just 0.9 per cent.
© Vancouver Sun 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)