Category: Health and Wellness Issues
July 27, 2020 - From February to mid June there were fewer than 100 cases in The Villages, the giant Central Florida community. Retirees in TV went about their busy lives, playing pickleball, golf, dancing, and partying. Governor Ron DeSantis even bragged about the low infection rate in the sprawling community of 120,000 residents.
With cases spiking in Florida and on track to reach 500,000 by early August, it turns out the gates of The Villages are not Covid 19 proof. Sumter County, the largest of the 3 counties where it is located, is seeing a rising number of cases. In recent weeks the daily case count has been between 20 and 40 (in surrounding counties the figures are in the hundreds). Cases in the County are primarily among people between 65-85, a big contrast to the rest of the state where they are concentrated among those 15 to 44. Hospitalizations are on the rise as well in The Villages.
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Published on July 26, 2020
Comments 9
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
July 20, 2020 - Many people find themselves in situations like these. A relative invites you to a backyard birthday or graduation ceremony. You don't feel comfortable about it, knowing there will be too many people there who won't be careful about Covid. But then she says "Oh, Suzy would be so disappointed if you don't come". A different friend might ask a favor that you know is either going to take time you don't have to spare, or put you in a situation you don't want to be in. Or, you are in a group where no one else is wearing a mask, making you feel like some kind of alien. How do you best manage these situations?
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Published on July 20, 2020
Comments 15
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
July 11, 2020 — Normally by this time many retired folks from the Northeast and Midwest have found a rental in Florida, the Carolinas, Arizona, or some other warm weather state. Or, if they own a place, they are making plans to fly or drive south in the fall. This…
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Published on July 10, 2020
Comments 29
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
June 24, 2020 – One thing we can all agree on, Covid is getting old, even if it isn’t going away. Most people have been very good about trying to stay safe, keeping their social distance, wearing masks in public, and avoiding high risk behaviors like large indoor social gatherings.
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Published on June 23, 2020
Comments 63
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
May 20, 2020 — No two ways about it, the corona virus has been brutal. So many lives lost, livelihoods ruined, plans destroyed. Pain and suffering, deprivation, happiness taken away, etc. But, looking on the bright side, someday it will be behind us, thanks to a cure, a vaccine, or…
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Published on May 19, 2020
Comments 19
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
April 14, 2020 -- Let's face it, COVID and coronavirus is about the only conversation topic there is these days. So, we might as well have something interesting within that to discuss. Here are a few topics we hope we can generate some good Member comments on.
Is there coronavirus in your community? A member asked this question:
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Published on April 13, 2020
Comments 93
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
April 46, 2020. — The spectre of coronavirus and COVID-19 has us hunkered down in our homes. Senior centers are closed, the nets are down on pickleball and tennis courts, clubhouses are locked. Shopping trips are a pastime of …. time past. So what can you do – play golf!…
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Published on April 5, 2020
Comments 5
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
March 24, 2020 — Daryl, a longtime Member, suggested what he termed a “potentially explosive topic” for the Blog: Are our Members willing to sacrifice their lives for the economy under COVID-19? It arises because of the controversial comments by Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who recently said: “‘As a…
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Published on March 24, 2020
Comments 26
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
March 16, 2020 -- Wow, life has turned upside down in the last few weeks. A localized epidemic in one Chinese province of a new virus, COVID-19, has spread around the globe and landed as a pandemic in the USA and the rest of the world. The toilet paper aisle is barren (we’re not sure why!), and hand sanitizers and disinfectants aren’t available at any price. Just about everything is closing. Note: we have a separate Blog post with great Member input on “The Corona Virus and Your Retirement Portfolio: Buy, Hold, or Panic!”
The world is in crisis. Compared to other groups, the pandemic will not affect most of us retirees as drastically as it will the working age population. Our travel and social plans will be disrupted and our retirement portfolios are shrinking. We certainly won't be checking out any new places to retire, at least in person (although we will have plenty of time to do it online!). But there will be isolation, depression, and anxiety. It is also shocking to realize that as baby boomers, we are in the high risk category!
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Published on March 16, 2020
Comments 20
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
January, 2020 — One of confusing things about Medicare is that it has two different open enrollment periods. We are currently in the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, which runs from Jan. 1 through March 31. We have previously written about the Medicare Open Enrollment period and which type…
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Published on January 19, 2020
Comments 14
