8 Tips to Help Seniors Conquer Stress - AGT The Safe Money People

As boomers retire from their jobs at unprecedented rates in the U.S., you’d think they’d be spending their free time with friends, lingering over the morning newspaper and coffee or taking January vacations in a warm place. But many seniors are finding themselves in a predicament that few anticipate in retirement: parenting for a second time. Census reports indicate that 2.7 million grandparents are responsible for their grandchildren. Their added duties may be fulfilling, but they may be stressful, too.

In fact, many things can trigger stress among retired adults — paying bills on a fixed income, failing health, caring for ill parents or spouses, or even grandparenting. Excessive stress can lead to serious health problems.

“When stressed, the body releases substances such as cortisol and adrenaline that affect every organ and can cause muscle tension, insulin secretion and increased heart rate,” said Arthur Hayward, M.D., a geriatrician and the clinical lead physician for elder care with Kaiser Permanente’s Care Management Institute.

“You can’t avoid stress, but managing it can help preserve your health and well-being,” Dr. Hayward added. He recommends identifying and understanding the cause of your stress and finding ways to relieve it, such as these eight tips:

1. Pace yourself. Don’t take on too much. Be aware of your limitations.
2. Set realistic goals and expectations, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
3. Plan time for yourself. Recharge your batteries.
4. Exercise and eat a balanced diet. Get plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
5. Try relaxation techniques such as meditation or yoga.
6. Get enough sleep. If you have problems sleeping, talk to your doctor. Drinking caffeinated beverages and alcohol can affect your ability to get a good night’s sleep.
7. Talk with a loved one or write in a journal.
8. Stay positive. Positive thoughts can make a difference, such as “I am hopeful” or “Things will be better.”

For more information, go tokp.org/healthyaging. For questions or advice about a specific condition, talk to your physician.

Source: http://www.copyrightfreecontent.com/health/8-tips-to-help-seniors-conquer-stress/

How To Secure Income For Retirement | AGT The Safe Money People

Ten thousand Americans a day are turning 65, including a couple we’ll call Stu and Helen. In excellent health, Stu and Helen could be facing a retirement of 30 years — or even longer. One of their biggest fears about their impending retirement is their potential longevity — and running out of money to not only pay their bills, but enjoy their free time.

Stu and Helen participated in their companies’ 401(k) plans. Like many workers, neither has a traditional pension, so they are solely responsible for their own retirement security.

Fortunately, couples like Stu and Helen have options for creating a “personal pension.” By using some of their savings to purchase an annuity, they can guarantee a steady stream of income for life.

With an immediate annuity, they can make a lump-sum payment to a life insurance company, and the company will send them their choice of monthly, quarterly or annual payments. They can choose to receive the income payments over a specified number of years or as a guaranteed stream of income they can never outlive.

They could also consider purchasing a deferred annuity, which allows savings to grow tax-deferred during an accumulation phase until they decide when payouts begin. People who are years away from retirement — or who are retired but don’t need income right away — might choose this type of annuity.
With a deferred annuity they decide how their money grows during the accumulation phase. A fixed annuity earns interest at a guaranteed rate. An index annuity is tied to a market index like the S&P 500 stock price index.

Surveys show that 90 percent of annuity owners think annuities are an effective way to save for retirement. And annuities are among the most regulated financial products in the marketplace. From product development to advertising to sales, life insurers must comply with state and federal laws and rules that help prevent fraud and protect consumers. In addition, most states provide a “free look” period allowing customers to return annuities to the insurance company for a full or partial refund.

Planning for retirement can be stressful. But for retirees like Stu and Helen, the guaranteed income from annuities can provide peace-of-mind for a lifetime.

Retirement - It Just Might Be Good For Your Health | AGT The Safe Money People

If you’re contemplating retirement, you’ve probably given a lot of thought to its impact on your finances. But have you considered how retiring might affect your health? The latest in the debate over whether retirement improves or worsens health appears in the current issue of The Journal of Human Resources. Its conclusion: “Results indicate that the retirement effect on health is beneficial and significant,” writes Michael Insler, an assistant professor of economics at the U.S. Naval Academy. The boost to your health is comparable to reducing the risk of being diagnosed with diabetes by 25%, for those of retirement age, Insler concludes. Better Health Behaviors In an interview with Next Avenue, Insler acknowledged that his conclusion “in some sense is counterintuitive,” since, he says, a common notion is that “oh, people retire and they kind of lose their will to go on.” If retirement does benefit health, why is that so? “I think the obvious hypothetical answers to that question are health behaviors,” says Insler. Retirees have more time to invest in their health, he writes in the Journal. “It may be easier for them to quit smoking or to be more physically active when not burdened by the work-week grind.” Insler based his findings on an analysis of data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging, which surveys a representative sample of 26,000 Americans over age 50 every other year. He found that of the respondents who ever reported smoking, about 69% reported doing so in the survey that took place two to four years before they retired. But only about 56% said they were still smoking two to four years after they retired. Insler also found that people were more likely after retirement to exercise vigorously for at least 30 minutes three or more days a week. Two to four years before retirement, about 48% of survey respondents said they exercised that much; that proportion increased to nearly 52% two to four years into retirement. Same Data, Different Conclusions But what if you really love your work? Might not retirement make you “lose your will to go on,” as Insler put it? “Job satisfaction isn’t really something that I looked closely at,” he says. “It could be part of the story.” But, Insler says, “It’s less about your stress and satisfaction and more about the time you devote to your health upkeep.” Although Inas Rashad Kelly and her co-authors used the same Health and Retirement Study data as Insler did, their analysis reached a different conclusion. In a paper published in 2008, they found that retirement affected health adversely. The fact that their conclusions based on the same data set diverged from Insler’s “points to the complex and multifaceted nature of the issue at hand,” Rashad Kelly, an associate professor of economics at Queens College, part of the City University of New York, told Next Avenue. Social Security Age Retirement’s negative effect on health was especially strong among people who were forced, or encouraged, to retire and those who said they weren’t particularly enjoying their spouse’s company, Rashad Kelly and her co-authors found. But the effect was weaker among retirees who said they voluntarily retired, had stressful jobs, remained physically active and continued to socialize. Economists trying to assess the ramifications of raising the age at which retirees can begin collecting Social Security are especially interested in whether health improves or declines in retirement. If retirement exacerbates common, expensive health problems, then raising the eligibility age for Social Security might make sense. Such a move could help encourage people to work longer, reducing the strain on Social Security and Medicare. If health tends to improve after retirement, however, then getting people to continue working by raising the eligibility age for Social Security might reduce expenditures for that program but shift them to Medicare. “We conclude that raising the retirement age for Social Security purposes may not have been such a bad thing,” Rashad Kelly says. “Yet we certainly do not propose altering the age one begins to receive much-needed health care through Medicare, and our results do not suggest that Medicare costs will go up on average if people work longer.” Insler emphasized that it’s difficult to predict the health effects of retirement on individuals. “I’m trying to calculate an average impact for a population,” he says. “Does it mean it will necessarily happen to them? No.”

New Job, Older Worker | AGT The Safe Money People

Some married couples watch a newly divorced friend re-enter the dating pool and think, “Oh thank goodness we don’t have to do that.” Similarly, many older workers who are secure in their career or job thank their lucky stars when they learn that another mature worker has been laid off or, for one reason or another, is having to look for a new job. Let’s face it, some things are simply easier for young folks, and dating and job seeking are generally two of them. But the reality is, many mid-career workers have had to work hard to find a new job during this recent period of high unemployment. At the same time, more people are undergoing career changes midway through their career — and that in itself can cause stress. But here’s some good news: According to a 2014 survey by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), a large majority of mid-career workers who sought a career change (whether voluntary or forced) after age 45 found that their new positions led to less stress and felt their results were successful. In fact, 72 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, “I feel like a new person.” Sixty-five percent said their stress levels dropped. One explanation for the lower stress may be explained by another study that revealed older workers frequently move from a management position to a non-management position. And here’s some more good news: Half of the survey participants reported that although they may have initially taken a lower-paying position, eventually their pay increased. Other findings from the study reveal that people with some college education fare best when it comes to making a career change. First of all, workers with no more than a high school diploma are less likely to change careers. Second, professionals with graduate degrees are also less likely to change careers, presumably because they have spent so much time acquiring specialized skills and knowledge that it may be difficult to translate that experience into a new career. So it turns out that your basic college graduate with a general BS or BA degree is more likely to make a career change. Another interesting fact is that older men are slightly more likely to make a career change than older women. Income Differential If you are mid-career or later, you may have noticed that your salary bumps aren’t quite what they used to be. That’s because the greatest salary jumps come between the ages of 25 and 35, and then earnings begin to plateau. In fact, a recent study found that by age 45 to 55, earnings are considered to be shrinking because they no longer keep up with inflation. Here’s another interesting fact from the same study. Higher income earners who experience a salary disruption, such as being laid off, are less likely to recover their previous level of earnings than lower-income earners. At the lowest income levels, a negative shock is likely to return to a previous high level within 10 years, and subsequent increases generally continue. At higher income levels, an income decline may or may not return to a previous high level, and subsequent increases tend to be low. Age Discrimination Does age discrimination still exist in the job market? Most research concludes it does. In today’s job market, about half of all baby boomer job seekers say they felt they were discriminated against due to their age, at least in terms of working as much as they would have liked. One study — narrowly focused only on women seeking entry-level positions — nonetheless found that younger workers were 40 percent more likely to be called back for an interview than older workers. However, legal recourse for age discrimination is much harder to prove than it is for race or gender discrimination. For one thing, it’s difficult to tell if an employer rejects an older applicant due to age or because he or she is overqualified for the position and therefore seeking a higher salary than is necessary to pay for that particular role. It is also difficult to tell if an older worker is laid off due to his or her age or is one of many as part of a workforce reduction or reorganization. In order to win a lawsuit for age discrimination, there must be concrete evidence to that effect. For example, either written documentation (such as an email or memo) or witnesses to a verbal confrontation in which a supervisor referred to the worker as some type of derogatory term that indicates ageism discrimination. Late last year, another study found that it takes five months longer for an older worker to find a job than a younger person with similar qualifications. Unfortunately, the study could not determine if older people are less aggressive in their search because they have enough financial resources to be patient and discerning. Boston College Center for Retirement Research. April 23, 2015. “Late-Career Job Changes Reduce Stress.”http://squaredawayblog.bc.edu/squared-away/late-career-job-changes-reduce-stress. Accessed May 6, 2015. Boston College Center for Retirement Research. April 28, 2015. “Around 50, U.S. Workers’ Earnings Fall.”http://squaredawayblog.bc.edu/squared-away/around-50-u-s-workers%E2%80%99-earnings-fall/. Accessed May 6, 2015. Boston College Center for Retirement Research. April 21, 2015. “Employer Bias Against Aging Boomers?”http://squaredawayblog.bc.edu/squared-away/employers-bias-against-aging-boomers/. Accessed May 6, 2015.

Palliative Care: What It Is, What It Is Not

Palliative care emerged in the 1980s as a holistic, team approach to supporting patients suffering from serious medical conditions. It is not the same thing as hospice care. While both focus on making the patient more comfortable, the difference is that hospice is called for when the patient has a prognosis of impending death. Palliative care, quite on the other hand, focuses on life. The difference between the two is significant, but not widely known. In fact, more than 78 percent of adults in the United States are not exactly sure what palliative care is.

1 Even some members of the medical community believe that palliative care is just a synonym for hospice. Some doctors understand the difference but don’t recommend palliative care because they’re concerned the patient may interpret it to mean hospice and believe that they’re dying. Moreover, more than 50 percent of directors of nursing do not understand the basics of palliative care, according to new study. This research found that the more familiar the director of nursing was with palliative care, the greater the chances that their patient’s experienced end-of-life cares aligned with a higher quality of life focus. While hospice patients no longer receive curative treatment for their underlying disease, palliative care is available at any stage of illness and can be deployed in conjunction with curative treatment.

It is not associated with any particular age, illness or stage of illness, and is appropriate for anyone suffering from a serious illness, whether chronic or acute. Team Approach, Palliative care is provided by a team of professionals, usually in concert with the patient’s primary physician for a specific condition. This team is developed to meet the special needs of each patient and therefore can vary significantly. Examples of palliative care team specialists include trained palliative care doctors and nurses, social workers, psychologists, dietitians, nutritionists, massage therapists, pharmacists, chaplains and even art or music therapists — whatever is most appropriate for the patient.

Even if the primary physician is not technically a member of the palliative care team, he supervises the patient’s care and plays an active role in ongoing treatment. The healing scope of the palliative care team is broader than that of traditional doctors. Their focus is on preventing pain, alleviating suffering, improving quality of life and helping both the patient and his loved ones cope with the stress and burden of caregiving. The team works to make the patient become as independent as possible, emphasizing what the patient actually wants instead of what a traditional medical approach might dictate that he needs. This approach gives patients more control over their treatment plan. For example, an aging parent diagnosed with cancer may be worried about who will care for his mentally incapacitated adult son to the degree that he forgoes scheduled treatments to stay home with the dependent. This scenario may call for a social worker who is able to procure resources to help care for the son and provide transportation to and from chemotherapy sessions for the father.

 A palliative care team addresses physical, mental and social conditions, and studies have revealed that curative treatment can also be more effective when accompanied by palliative care. Access Because palliative care is not that well known, access is an issue. Most of the time it is recommended by the treating physician and frequently provided by on-site teams in a hospital setting. However, palliative care can be provided wherever the patient is located, including outpatient clinics, long-term-care facilities, hospices and even at home.

Palliative care also can be recommended via other sources, such as health and mental health agencies, day care and senior centers, schools, courts, child welfare and family service agencies, correctional systems, agencies serving immigrants and refugees, substance abuse programs and employee assistance programs. While the foundation of the program is to provide pain and symptom relief, these types of organizations may be engaged due to the patients’ lifestyle, socio-economic factors, immigration status and/or living environment. Social service agencies are frequently able to identify these factors and refer patients who would benefit from palliative care before their conditions are exacerbated and require more costly treatment.

Palliative care is generally covered all or in part by Medicare, Medicaid and most insurance plans. However, Medicaid coverage can vary depending on the state program.

1. Health Affairs Blog. March 10, 2015. “Effective Public Engagement To Improve Palliative Care For Serious Illness.”http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2015/03/10/effective-public-engagement-to-improve-palliative-care-for-serious-illness/. Accessed April 14, 2015.

 2. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing. October 2012. “Opportunities and Challenges for Palliative Care Professionals in the Age of Health Reform.” http://www.nursingcenter.com/lnc/cearticle?tid=1429239. Accessed April 8, 2015.

 3. NYmag.com. “Many Nursing Homes Fall Short at Palliative Care.” March 24, 2015.http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/03/many-nursing-homes-fall-short-at-palliative-care.html. Accessed April 8, 2015.

 4. Pharmacy Practice News. March 2015. “Palliative Care a ‘Foreign’ But Vital Role for Pharmacists.”http://www.pharmacypracticenews.com/ViewArticle.aspx?d=Clinical&d_id=50&i=March+2015&i_id=1155&a_id=30832. Accessed April 8, 2015.

5. National Association of Social Workers. “NASW Standards for Palliative & End of Life Care.”https://www.socialworkers.org/practice/bereavement/standards/default.asp.” Accessed April 8, 2015. 6. GetPalliativeCare.org. “Frequently Asked Questions.”http://getpalliativecare.org/whatis/faq/#how-do-i-know-if-palliative-care-is-right-for-me. Accessed April 8, 2015.