Category: Health and Wellness Issues
July 28, 2015 -- There is at least one good thing about getting to the ripe old age of 65 - you are eligible for Medicare! It pretty much removes the worry of finding health and drug insurance coverage, and you get this benefit at a very low cost. But if you make some of these common mistakes, you might not be eligible for it when you want it, or it might cost you more money than it should.
We think this article will be useful for people who have not yet signed up for Medicare as well as those who are already in the program. It is part of our series on Medicare and health care insurance. See the bottom of this page for links to the rest of the series.
But before we launch into the worst Medicare mistakes, here is a tiny background about Medicare:
What is Medicare, and who is eligible?
Medicare is health insurance for people 65 years or older, under age 65 with certain disabilities, and any age with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or Lou Gehrig's disease. Medicare has four parts -- Part A, which is hospital insurance, Part B, which is medical insurance, Part C, which is Medicare Advantage Plans, and Part D, which
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Published on July 27, 2015
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
June 3, 2015 -- It is one of America's fastest growing sports, attracting legions of new players from baby boomer ranks. Compared to tennis it is easy to pick up, doesn't require as much stamina or range of motion, and is fun from the get-go. Yet all is not perfect in the state of pickleball.
Symptoms of the fallout occured in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat recently, which recounted issues concerning expansion of pickleball facilities at the large (3000 unit) Oakmont active adult community there. The article, "Oakmont in a Pickle over Pickleball", chronicles the troubles that occurred as the
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Published on June 2, 2015
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
Updated October, 2016 -- So you have saved all the money you need for a comfortable retirement, scoured the world and found the best to place to retire - great. Unfortunately, all that great planning means nothing unless you have the good health to enjoy your retirement. To keep yourself healthy enough to enjoy your retirement the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all adults age 18-64 get at least 140 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a week. That seems like a lot of time, certainly more than the average person is willing to put in. Fortunately there are a lot of great ways to get that exercise without having to become a gym rat.
Some of the ideas in the book by psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo, "A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness" are pretty interesting and relatively painless. They make it easy because they incorporate a little bit of exercise into ordinary daily activities. Such as: Brushing your teeth - why not do some squats. Talking on the phone,
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Published on April 14, 2015
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
Editor's note: In our recent article, "Is A Money Pit Going to Ruin Your Retirement", we reported on that most baby boomers want to continue to live where they do now. To that end, many are undertaking home improvement projects to make their homes more livable. This guest article gives you some valuable input on where your home improvement priorities should be. Hope you find it useful.
By Michael Chotiner
When I look at the statistics for injuries related to bathroom falls—which is frequently, since I'm often asked to write about design strategies and building products that can prevent them—I've noticed something surprising. No, I'm not shocked by the Center for Disease Control's report that more than 235,000 Americans aged 15 and older suffer some type of injury in the bathroom that resulted in a trip to a hospital emergency room, nor that four out of five of those ER visits result from "slip-and-fall accidents."
What surprises me is that the total number of falls in bathrooms seems to increase each year. Why? Is it better reporting? The growing ranks of aged Baby Boomers? Inadequate building standards? I don't know, but I do know that there are a lot of ways to avoid being counted in the unfortunate statistics through improving the bath fixtures, accessories and flooring in your home.
Breaking out the stats, we learn that:
- Two-thirds of emergency-room visits result from falls in or near
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Published on January 17, 2015
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
Note: This is the 4th article in our series on health care insurance and Medicare for baby boomers. Earlier articles explained Medicare, what to do if you are too young or ineligible for Medicare, and how our members feel about Medicare (find links to those articles and more at bottom). Part 4 will explain why open enrollment season is so important, what you need to do about it, plus the issues you should be looking at.
November 25, 2014 -- This is the open enrollment period for both Medicare and Obamacare. If you are not getting health insurance from your employer you probably need to use this period to make sure that you are getting the coverages you need at the most affordable price. Changes are everywhere, especially in the new Obamacare arena, so you need to be on top of them.
Two different enrollment periods
Which open enrollment period you need to worry about depends on whether you are talking about Medicare or the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
Medicare enrollment started on October 15 and runs through December 7. In other words, it's almost over!
Affordable Care Act enrollment goes from November 15 to February 15 (half the time it was in 2014).
What is an Open Enrollment Period
An open enrollment period is the time during which you can sign up for coverage for the upcoming year if you don't have it now. You can also change
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Published on November 24, 2014
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
September 30, 2014 and Updated Feb. 18, 2017 - Note: A lot has happened in the health insurance world since this article was written the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). With the new Trump Administration in place and its promise to repeal Obamacare, much of what is written in this article is completely up in the air. What is not up for grabs is the need for baby boomers to be able to have some kind of quality and affordable health care! This is Part 3 in our Health Care Insurance series - see links to Parts 1 and 2 in Further Reading below
Congratulations on your retirement before the age of 65. Now, what the heck are you going to do about health insurance?
Millions of baby boomers are finding themselves retired before the traditional retirement age of 65. Whether your retirement is the fulfillment of a dream or an unwanted outcome, it usually comes with a huge question - what to do about health insurance? This article will help you understand your options, particularly if you find yourself retired before Medicare takes care of most of
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Published on September 30, 2014
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
June 17, 2014 -- The Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University is making available a free diagnostic test, SAGE, to help assess cognitive, thinking, and memory impairments. It is a simple exam you can give yourself in just a few minutes.
Although it might be scary to realize that perhaps you might be prone to
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Published on June 17, 2014
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
December 28, 2013 -- We don't think any self-respecting baby boomer is ready for this news item: People over 65 years old accounted for 17 percent of the crash fatalities in 2012 but only 13 percent of the U.S. population. In other words, as we age we become less capable drivers than the general population. Most of us have had parents or aging friends who continue to drive at great risk to themselves and others. But no boomer wants to think about the day out in the future when our car keys are the ones being confiscated.
Perhaps more irritating than this news were the headlines that came with it, like: "Keeping Grandma
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Published on December 28, 2013
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
November 25, 2013 -- Over the past week we saw numerous reports reminding us of yet another way that our hard-earned retirements can run onto financial shoals. This time the culprit is one that most of us don't think that much about - medical expenses. We will explain more about the problem here, along with some ideas on how to prepare your retirement against bankrupting medical expenses.
Fidelity, the mutual fund company, estimates that a couple in average health will spend over $220,000 during their retirement for medical
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Published on November 25, 2013
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
September 23, 2013 -- Love it or hate it, Obamacare, otherwise known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is going into effect. As a baby boomer you need to be prepared for an important first deadline that goes into place next week on October 1. That is the date that you can begin signing up for 2014 coverage at one of the health insurance marketplaces (exchanges) created by the Act. This article will outline 7 things you need to know about Obamacare, so you can be adequately covered and guarantee your rights under the new law. As you can see below, boomers too young for Medicare but not covered by their employer can probably save thousands of dollars on their medical insurance under the new law.
But first, we need to discuss your current health care insurance situation because, based on that status, the new
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Published on September 23, 2013
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