Alejandra Owens

Biography: Alejandra is the Managing Editor of the AARP Blog and blogs weekly on a variety of hot news topics.

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Alejandra Owens 'sPosts

Ronald Reagan’s 9 Wisest Words About Social Security

Posted on 12/19/2012 by Alejandra Owens | General News | Comments

Money & Savings | Politics | WorkThe following is a guest post by David Certner, AARP legislative policy director. The last time we made significant changes to Social Security — including adjustments to benefits — was the 1983 Social Security amendments. At the time, Social Security had less than a year’s worth of solvency, and a bipartisan agreement to put Social Security on sound financial footing was essential. That legislation, negotiated by President Reagan and Democratic House Speaker Tip O’Neill, focused on what was needed protect …

Jean Chatzky’s 12 Essential Money Rules

Posted on 09/22/2012 by Alejandra Owens | General News | Comments

Money & Savings“Rules. A life without rules is exhausting and emotionally fraught.” That’s how Jean Chatzky opened her hour long session on financial security and retirement at Life@50+ today. She admitted that rules don’t seem fun – and the audience agreed. But soon she brought the crowd around to the virtues of boundaries, planning and delayed gratification. “Once you start planning, and get the numbers down on the page, things may not be as bad as you think they are,” said Chatzky, …

How To Teach Kids Nutrition? Plant Something

Posted on 09/20/2012 by Alejandra Owens | General News | Comments

Food | Volunteering“What do you do to get the kids to like stuff like kale? Or radishes?” I asked. Ms. Denise immediately begins shaking her head in protest, with a huge grin on her face. “If they take the seed and plant it. If they grow it. If they see it every day while they’re out on the playground. If they walk by and smell it. They will love eating it,” she said. We were standing in an edible schoolyard on a …

Not Your Everyday Grandma: A Toddler’s Memory of Phyllis Diller

Posted on 08/21/2012 by Alejandra Owens | General News | Comments

LegacyThis is a guest post by California-based writer Betsy Towner is a regular contributor to AARP Bulletin. Paul’s grandma wasn’t like ours. Whereas the other grandmothers of my first four years left impressions of intensified mothering—cozier, calmer, softer than Mommy—my neighbor Paul’s was an assault on the senses. A grand assault, mind you: Phyllis Diller would burst on the scene in a storm cloud of sparkle and shine, loudness and laughter. I watched her with equal parts fascination and intimidation …

A Cruel, Cool Summer

Posted on 07/5/2012 by Alejandra Owens | General News | Comments

Money & SavingsThis is a guest post from Deb Whitman, AARP’s Executive Vice President of Policy As we watch the thermometer creep up to temperatures that make us perspire just thinking about them, this summer could end up as a particularly cruel, burdensome one for seniors and others who have trouble when it comes to paying for cooling and other energy costs. According to a new report by AARP’s Public Policy Institute, average residential electricity costs have increased by more than 42 …

AARP’s Guide To Working With Boomers

Posted on 07/3/2012 by Alejandra Owens | General News | Comments

WorkThis is a guest post from Mary C. Hickey from the AARP Media Content Team. A post yesterday on the Wall Street Journal’s At Work blog offered advice to Baby Boomers on how to get along with their younger colleagues in the workplace. Calling for “mutual respect,” the blogger listed the things Boomers need to understand about young co-workers, including their technological superiority, their lack of company loyalty, their unique ability to collaborate, and their drive for instant success. Okay. Got it. …