“Personal Finance: Beauty and your bottom line - Washington Post” plus 2 more |
- Personal Finance: Beauty and your bottom line - Washington Post
- Business, Personal Finance, Technology, Employment news for Austin and Central Texas ... - Austin American-Statesman
- Personal Finance Insights: When to begin collecting Social Security - Abington Mariner
| Personal Finance: Beauty and your bottom line - Washington Post Posted: 05 Aug 2010 09:19 AM PDT Here are some leftover questions from my last online chat with Paula Span, author of "When the Time Comes: Families With Aging Parents Share Their Struggles And Solutions" and Elinor Ginzler, co-author of "Caring for Your Parents, the Complete Guide: Practical Advice You Can Trust From the Experts at AARP." Q: Are there organizations or tools you can use to check on the services you have acquired for your aging parents when they live thousands of miles away? Paula Span: Lots of companies and health-care systems are developing various online tools to monitor faraway seniors' health and coordinate their care. If what you want to know is whether your dad took his pills this morning, there are various telehealth programs that can track such things, and an online search will lead you to them. But if what you really want to know is how he's doing in a general sense, there's really no substitute for having another set of eyes and ears where he is. If you can swing it financially, a geriatric care manager in your parents' town can visit once or twice a month, spend some time chatting, use her professional background (usually in social work) to spot problems or dilemmas and suggest solutions. I think GCMs are a great boon for family caregivers, but especially for long-distance ones. There's a locator on the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers website at www.caremanager.org. Q: I have an elderly relative who's starting to slow down. She lives alone, and still cooks but needs help with food shopping. I worry about her taking a shower by herself. She wants to stay in her house as long as possible. How do you tell when an elder can't continue the way she's living? Elinor Ginzler: It is so important to be tracking how your older relatives are doing. AARP calls this "assessing the situation" and our website has lots of information about what to look for. A quick couple of areas to be watching: Check out the kitchen when you go to visit - open the refrigerator to see if there is fresh food and the right variety of food. If the shelves are empty or if they are filled with stale food, that could mean it is time to get some help with shopping and maybe meal preparation. If you are worried about whether she can manage her personal care needs on her own, start by being around when she showers and track how the bathing goes, and how she looks afterwards. It might be time for that family conversation where you acknowledge that she wants to stay in her house as long as possible (90 percent of the 50 plus population do, too!), but that you want her to be safe, and thus maybe some help in the home is the solution to her wishes and your worries. Keep on talking and assessing the situation. Online Text and Video Chats Today Join me at 11:45 for my live video chat. Afterwards, join me for my online text chat at noon ET. It's just you and me, so be sure to send your finance questions and comments. If you are unable to join me live, send your question early or read the transcript later. Paid in Full Have you successfully paid off a credit card, mortgage, or student loan? Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:36 AM PDT Home > Whole Scoop > Archives > 2010 > August > 05 > Entry A popular brand of fermented tea is back on Whole Foods' shelves after it was pulled earlier in this summer over concerns that it contained too much alcohol. According to the Associated Press, Whole Foods removed all varieties of the trendy tea Kombucha from stores in mid-June. From the story: The retailer and regulators are concerned that some bottles have more than 0.5 percent alcohol — the legal limit for a drink not to be considered alcoholic. The tea in its most popular form is raw and unpasteurized, meaning it ferments and the yeast inside produces alcohol. Kombucha contains live bacteria and yeast, similar to yogurt. People like the bubbly drink and say it has health benefits such as improving digestion. The government since June has tested hundreds of types of kombucha to determine if it should be labeled like beer or wine. Distributors and retailers have removed raw kombucha from stores, saying they won't restock until they know more. Kombucha maker Vibranz said it has a new formula that reduces alcohol to fall within the limits. The tea, which Vibranz started making in April, is now back in Whole Foods stores in northern California, near its headquarters. Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Whole Foods Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Personal Finance Insights: When to begin collecting Social Security - Abington Mariner Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:46 AM PDT This month, as Social Security celebrates its 75th anniversary, some congressional leaders have argued for increasing the normal retirement age to 70 for future retirees. The intent is to address the rather bleak long-term prospects for the Social Security system. As the Social Security Administration (SSA) indicates in the annual statement that it sends to each prospective retiree: "…the Social Security system is facing serious financial problems, and action is needed soon to make sure the system will be sound when today's younger workers are ready for retirement. In 2016 we will begin paying more in benefits than we collect in taxes. Without changes, by 2037 the Social Security Trust Fund will be exhausted and there will be enough money to pay only about 76 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits. We need to resolve these issues soon…" With the solvency of Social Security in the spotlight and retirement fast approaching for the Baby Boom Generation, you may be asking at what age you should begin collecting your Social Security benefits. Well, as is often the case, it depends upon your specific situation.
Normal retirement age To determine whether it makes sense to retire early, you first need to know what Social Security considers "normal retirement age" (NRA) under current law. It varies based on the year of your birth. If you were born from 1944–1959, your NRA is between 66 and 67, while it is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. If you were born prior to 1944, you have already reached your NRA.
Reduced benefit at 62 If you retire at your NRA, then you will receive your full Social Security benefits. However, if you retire prior to reaching your NRA, then your benefits will be reduced permanently. Under normal circumstances, the earliest you can begin collecting reduced benefits is upon reaching 62 years of age. The later your birth year, the more your benefits are reduced by retiring at age 62, though the range of reduction is 25-30 percent.
Collect benefits early? Whether to begin collecting Social Security benefits prior to your NRA depends upon your circumstances. You may want to collect early if:
SSA provides calculators on its website (www.ssa.gov) to assist you in determining at what age the accumulated value of receiving lower benefits early is surpassed by the accumulated value of receiving higher benefits later. If you expect to live beyond the break-even age, then it may be to your economic advantage to delay collecting benefits until at least your NRA.
Collect benefits late? If you delay collecting your benefits until after your NRA, you will be eligible for delayed retirement credits that increase your normal benefit. Depending on your year of birth, you could enjoy an annual benefit increase of 7-8 percent for delaying when you begin collecting your benefits. However, note that no credits are earned for delaying retirement past age 70. Aside from the Social Security system's projected long-term financial stress, and the likelihood that the NRA will be extended, benefits will be reduced, and/or taxes will be increased in the future to strengthen the system, the decision of when to begin collecting your Social Security benefits should be based on your particular circumstances. Remember also that Medicare will not cover you, under most circumstances, until you reach age 65. Louis E. Conrad II is a Lexington resident and president of COMPASS Wealth Management, LLC in Lexington. Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Personal-Finance - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment