ShAARP Session: Observations from AARP

It's not too late to make some yummy treats for Halloween tomorrow!

How to make easy Halloween cookies

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An article on Newsweek's Web site called "Fired is the New Retired" - which will appear in the November 9th issue - gives us the lowdown on the very bleak unemployment statistics for Americans over age 65...and the even bleaker issue of age discrimination in the U.S. As we know, the Supreme Court ruled in the Jack Gross case that the burden falls upon the employee to prove that age is the reason for discrimination.

Dan Kohrman, senior attorney with AARP, is featured in the article, saying that the fact that statistics show a 29 percent jump in age-discrimination complaints from 2007 to 2008 sure make it clear that "something bad is going on."

The article poignantly points out, however, that the issue of age discrimination isn't just a matter of law; it's a matter of "changing ourselves" when it comes to the stereotypes many people hold against older workers.

Also...
The story continues on nursing home reform in the Chicago Tribune. Today's news focuses on advocates for the mentally ill who are housed in nursing homes alongside the elderly. They argue that those psychiatric patients could be more effectively - and cheaply - treated in a community setting, where they would build life skills. Advocates say that reform will be beneficial to all parties involved - the seniors and disabled in nursing homes, the mentally ill who would be relocated, and their caregivers.

Ever wonder why so many marketers and companies are targeting boomers and folks 50 and older? Here's a fun video that explains just how powerful boomers are in the marketplace:

The New York Times has a great piece on its Web site all about seniors and technology. The article was particularly fun for me to read because I still remember when my grandmother - who turns 74 next month! - had a PC before my family even had one, and who has recently mastered the art of text messaging from her cell phone, even if it's the one with "big buttons."

The article covers everything from centenarians using Twitter to video-chatting and the "simple" PC. It is great to learn that folks are taking advantage of all this newfangled technology has to offer, especially as the older we get the more difficult it is to travel and visit loved ones. With iChat, Skype and all the other programs out there, older Americans can see their grandchildren whenever they want from the comfort of their own home. How are you using technology and social networking to keep in touch? And if you aren't - why not!

Another helpful story...
on the New York Times site is one called "Strategies to Help Grandchildren Now, Not Later." With the tough economic climate, more and more grandparents are focusing on helping their adult children and grandchildren financially now, rather than worrying about the size of their inheritance. The article points out, though, that "tax traps await the unwary" and there are several tips for how to avoid those gift taxes while still helping younger generations get by. Check it out.

I'm sure you've been hearing a lot of about the fact that there's no COLA for Social Security recipients this year (and maybe the next year). And there's been an equal amount of debate about how to address that, or if it even should be addressed.

The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) released a poll earlier today showing that the vast majority of Americans aged 65+ believe that the lack of a COLA in 2010 will adversely affect their finances.

Incredibly, 71 percent of seniors said that their financial situation will be negatively impacted because their Social Security checks will not be increasing next year. With 78 percent of respondents being retired and out of the workforce, they are more likely to be living on a fixed income, and are reliant on Social Security as a primary source of retirement income.

The results of the survey not only underscore the unfortunate prominence Social Security plays in current retirement planning, but also demonstrates the very tangible impact the down market will have on recipients next year.

Now more than ever we're seeing folks rethinking their retirement strategy - looking to build a comprehensive plan that could include everything from Social Security, personal savings and insured retirement strategies which we're hearing more about.

What about you? Are you going to be impacted by the no COLA? What are you looking into to make sure you have enough money for retirement?

The Los Angeles Times is reporting today on the Schwarzenegger administration's rush to begin background checks for home health workers for the elderly and disabled - the plan is for those checks to begin next week. But, as the Times reports, social service chiefs from around the state are not ready to begin the time-consuming application process. This delay could mean that some patients go without care.

On another note...
CNNMoney.com has a valuable piece today answering the question of "When is a good time to invest in my 401(k)?" That answer: a resounding NOW! Walter Updegrave, Money Magazine senior editor, says in the story that "regardless of what's going on in the economy and the financial markets at any given moment," we should always, always be contributing to our 401(k). He points out that we cannot predict when the economy will be up, when it will be down, or anything else about it for that matter - so it makes sense that the only way to build up a large enough nest egg is to regularly be investing in this varying economy. And hey - could it be easier to invest in a 401(k)? Convenient payroll deductions mean there's no excuse to be contributing throughout your career.

Following up on yesterday's news...
The Chicago Tribune is reporting again on the compromised care in Illinois nursing homes. The new development is that half of Illinois' best nursing homes have now been cited for improper use of psychotropic drugs since 2001. Check out the story for the alarming details.

If this isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what is.

While the recession has forced many Americans to delay retirement, one of the hardest hit are those already retired in search of work. There are 6.6 million Americans age 65 or older who have lost their jobs in the recession, 61% more than the 4.1 million unemployed in this age group in 2000, The New York Times reports.

This is five times the number of people in this age bracket who were unemployed in the Great Depression. Making matters worse, many older Americans still owe money on their mortgages.

Check out AARP.org's section on work to get job tips and find out more about issues concerning older workers.

We received a clarion call a few years ago when we discovered that 69% of our members were still providing some level of financial support to their adult children. We realized that we had both an obligation and an opportunity to get more involved and help young adults (aged 18-34 years) understand the role that money plays throughout every stage of their lives. With that said, we have two very important developments on this front:

• This morning, we issued a report that illustrates how pervasive financial challenges are in almost every aspect of young adults' lives, including their relationships and how they use the Internet. From our prior research and what we'd heard from our members, we knew this was a serious situation, but this report shows how deeply these worries are affecting this generation.




• To help young adults confront these challenges, we are announcing a new AARP-sponsored project called LifeTuner.org, a free, online personal finance community for young adults. LifeTuner fills a major need in the financial landscape: an unbiased, inclusive resource where young adults can get free expert advice and share stories with their peers completely free of any commercial jargon.

Our research has shown that while young adults freely admit that they are worried about their financial future and that money often causes friction with their families, partners and friends, they are still reluctant to ask for help because money remains a taboo subject for the most part. Our hope is that LifeTuner will help eradicate those social boundaries and inspire a healthy, helpful dialogue about money management. Additionally, LifeTuner also provides a series of tools and calculators designed to help balance budgets, itemize spending and pay down debt.

We need your help in order to make this mission and this project a success. One of the features of LifeTuner is the "Been There" forum, a place where AARP members can share their life lessons, experiences and finance tips with LifeTuner users. Not only does this offer members a great platform for giving back, but it will also help encourage an intergenerational dialogue around finances, career and other money-related life concerns; something that is sorely lacking in this country.

Young adults play a massive role in the financial future of the United States and the more we can do to make them realize the gravity of their situation, the better we'll all be because of it. The tagline for LifeTuner is 'Your life is your greatest currency' and our goal is to use LifeTuner to help young adults realize this fact.

Click here to see key findings or to download a full copy of the report or visit LifeTuner.org for more information.

There's a very disturbing story in the Chicago Tribune today about patients in nursing homes across Illinois who have received, wrongly, "powerful psychotropic drugs" without any condition that would give cause for a need for such drugs.

Since 2001, the Tribune has found 1,200 violations (affecting 2,900 patients) at nursing homes across the state, and this isn't the first offense of Illinois nursing homes that's getting news coverage. Recently, the Tribune also reported that mentally ill felons were living alongside the elderly and disabled.

The other side of the story is that health care workers are saying that administering these psychotropic drugs for things such as "restlessness" or "confusion" makes patients "easier to care for" and even makes life happier for those patients with dementia. However, according to the Tribune article, the drugs we're talking about here can have dangerous side effects - including extreme lethargy, seizures and even sudden death. Disturbing stuff for those who put their loved ones in the care of nursing homes.

Some AARP News of Note...USA Today has a piece today on AARP's newly launched Web site, LifeTuner.org. The site was created to offer financial advice to people in their 20s and 30s - a much younger audience than the typical AARP crowd. Check out the article - and the site!

AARP Magazine has a great piece about the financial complexities involving new marriages later in life.

Often by middle age, many folks have houses, mortgages, children, debt and a ton of other financial expenses that need to be taken into account if new relationships are formed. The magazine not only talks about these difficulties but takes an actual couple planning to get married and gives us a step by step (and video) giving us an idea of how we can handle our finances when marriages result in merges of expenses.

Have your own question about money? You can also ask the experts in the magazine's Money Makeover series.

The recurring theme of older works and unemployment was in the news again this weekend. This one from the New York Times says that there are more Americans 65 and over working than any time in history: 6.6 million. And in addition to those 6.6 million in the workforce, another 500,000 seniors want to work but cannot find work. The article really delves deep into the dire situation.

"That so many of them are still trying to find work shows how bad the economic situation is. A lot of people normally give up at that age," says AARP's legislative policy director, David Certner, in the article.

The article also gives statistics from AARP's Public Policy Institute - such as the fact that unemployed older workers, on average, take 40 percent longer than the general unemployed to find work -- 36.5 weeks on average.

In addition, the issue of age discrimination is discussed, a topic that AARP has been talking about a lot lately, backing the proposed legislation, Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act.

It's a very informative article that hits home on a lot of key points on unemployment and older workers - check it out.

From Kim Barnes

Dr. John LaPuma, also known as the ChefMD and the author of "ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine: A Food Lover's Road Map to Losing Losing Weight, Preventing Disease and Getting Really Healthy," gave his audience basic tips for storing and preparing food to help reduce issues with impotence, premature wrinkling, many cancers, arthritis and others. Among his tips:

• Marinate meats with rosemary


• Store watermelon outside the refrigerator


• Eat 1O walnuts 10 minutes before eating fast food


• Adopt a Mediterranean diet to help prevent Alzheimer's.


• Add black pepper to curry

1. Learn to enjoy the art of cooking.

2. Understand that your fork is as powerful as your prescription drugs in maintaining your health.

3. Find recipes that work for you.

From Meg Grant

You see a lot of things you've never seen before on the exhibit floor of the annual AARP member event. Add to the list, this year, the sight of a man in a wetsuit pedaling an exercise bike in a pool full of water.

To add to the weirdness, the man in question is Wayne Player, the son of famed South African golfer Gary Player.

So here's the story: Player was demonstrating a line of exercise equipment designed specifically for use in water. Developed in Italy and imported by Michael Factor of Jupiter, Fla., the Aquatics USA line includes an exercise bike, a treadmill and a pilates/circuit training bar. "Boomers want to stay healthier now more than ever before," said Factor. "But many of us have knee and back problems, so aquatics have become very popular lately." And because water holds 80 percent of your body weight, you can exercise more vigorously underwater while at the same time protecting against joint stress. The result, says Factor? A 20-minute session on his company's submerged treadmill is the equivalent of 60 minutes of walking on land.

"It's great for those who want to exercise but don't have the ability" to do so on land for one reason or another, Factor said of his company's equipment -- which is designed not to rust and can be submerged in just four feet of water. It's water exercise that, he says, "takes the monotony out of swimming laps." And for the vain among us, the equipment allows you to exercise in the water without getting your hair wet.

The gear isn't cheap--$1950 for the treadmill, $2,250 for the bike, and $2,900 for the circuit bars. But Wayne Player, who damaged his knees after years on the golf course and running track, says the benefits are worth the cost.