ShAARP Session: Observations from AARP

Think McCain’s too old to be President? Think again.

The Chicago Tribune’s Steven Chapman asked in a column last week whether John McCain is too old to be President. Philadelphia’s own Alfred Gilbert today answered the question with a reality check.

AARP is non-partisan, but we'll defend any candidate – young or old – who is unfairly targeted because of their age. Anyone who thinks leadership is limited by age should look no further than Winston Churchill, who led the United Kingdom to victory in World War II in 1945 – when he was 70 years-old!

Original Chapman piece here.

Some pics from Times Square of the Presidential candidates addressing our members at Life@50+. Guess we weren’t the only ones lucky enough to catch a glimpse!

Miami Herald / McClatchy: GOP's Thompson stays course on Fla. tour

And though he touched on virtually every theme, it wasn't enough for 54-year-old Linda Ostroski, a volunteer with . . . "Divided We Fall” effort who was unable to ask the candidate what his plan was for lowering healthcare costs and helping more people get health insurance.

"It would have been helpful for him to address the one issue that plagues everyone in this country," she said after his Jacksonville speech.

New York Times: San Francisco to Offer Care for Every Uninsured Adult

The initiative, known as Healthy San Francisco, is the first effort by a locality to guarantee care to all of its uninsured, and it represents the latest attempt by state and local governments to patch a inadequate federal system.

CNN / Money Magazine: Forever young

Boomers are imagining the American dream all over again, a new Money Magazine survey reveals. Topping the agenda: closer relationships and more fun. And, oh yeah, they want to change the world.

Washington Post: Still Working After All These Years

The trend is national: From 2000 to 2006, the proportion of the nation's 65- to 74-year-olds who remained in the labor force increased from nearly one in five to one in four, according to census figures released this week.

We’re heading into debate season, as if we are not already there!

AARP and IPTV are holding two candidate forums in IA focused on health and financial security, on September 20th and October 25th. The 9/20 event is being held in Davenport and includes Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Biden and Richardson. The 10/25 will be held in Sioux City and right now McCain and Huckabee have RSVPed yes. Judy Woodruff is hosting and the debate will be carried across the country on 250 plus stations.

Release from AARP here and IPTV here. Let’s hope they actually say something about the issues that impact us every day.

Wall Street Journal: Supplementing Social Security

The problem is clear: This isn't a nation of savers.

Forbes: Next Generation Retirement

The good news and the bad news is that your retirement well-being is largely in your own hands.

Wall Street Journal: Making Sense of Retirement Plans

Besides their homes, retirement-savings accounts are the only significant investment many of my family members have, so I'm happy to help.

Associated Press: Easy ways to 'elderproof' homes

For an elderly person, the home can be a dangerous place, with accidents waiting to happen.

From today’s Washington Post chat, a great reminder that these issues are not just something for those who are 50 and over to be concerned about… everyone can only hope they’re lucky enough to worry about enjoying the second half of your life.

Washington, D.C.: First all, thank you for taking the time to respond to my inquiry. I am concerned about the financial affairs of my parents whom are both in their early 50s but as of now do not have a dime saved for retirement. They still have about 120K left on their mortgage. Because they do not have any savings after my dad lost his job and putting four kids through school they have discussed worst case scenario would be to sell the house and downgrade in 10 years if necessary. They now both work descent jobs making about 45K each. What would you recommend they do now to start preparing to retire comfortably. Thank you.

Click here to see the answer.

Looks like the Walshes enjoyed themselves. Thanks Laurie and Brian!

In today’s Washington Post, there’s a fantastic section, 50+ that highlights the baby boomers.

It covers all the bases: how the boomers are redefining aging, how they see “old” as being 10-15 year away, and the more serious stuff related to health, finances, and health care.

Lots of live chats too, check them out here.

Check out the interesting post on my DD today about the importance of the 50-plus population when it comes to voting.

It is true that one in four voters is an AARP member. The power of this constituency is also seen in the primary states– 11.8 million. In IA, we have 385,000 members; in NV we have 321,000; in NH almost 234,000; in SC 547,000; and in FL almost 2.9 million.

Bottom line: This is a lot of people and the candidates need to step up a pay attention to the issues these voters care about. A recent poll of our members tells us what those issues are: health and financial security.