Peninsula Daily News column, 8-25-11 "Realities of Alzheimer's subject of talk"

            I ended last week’s column by saying:”... next week we’ll get back to our ‘Boomer Primer’ thing – HEY: If aging were easy, everybody would do it!”

            And, of course, everybody does, and from Day 1: You’re older today than you were yesterday, and you’ll be older by lunch time than you were at breakfast, blah blah – Obvious, right? Sure. And in a lot of day-to-day ways, it doesn’t really matter, until all those day-to-day days add up to months and years and years and years and suddenly, BOOM! It MATTERS!

            And when it starts to matter, it often starts to matter a LOT, because that little voice that we usually bury under the day-to-dayness begins to get through, and begins to point out that all those day-to-day days won’t go on forever, which means that we could actually measure (in a very general sort of way) the distance between “here” and “there,” and we all know where “there” is.

            The whole idea of this “Boomer Primer” thing (try saying that six times, fast!) is to get us all to think about things we need to think about if we’ve figured out that our days won’t go on forever – If we’re on the threshold, as it were – And there are two subjects that I know of that will turn a room full of energetic, opinionated Boomers into a collection of deer-in-the-headlights zombies, one being Medicare.

            Medicare will usually induce group coma because of what’s perceived as its sheer complexity: This “part” and that “part” which connects to this over here IF you’ve selected one of 87 plans of that part depending upon your income and whether you’re working and where you live and if your doctor does or doesn’t and…And, then, of course, there’s the daunting aspect of attempting to decipher “explanations of benefits” that were never meant to be deciphered, and…

            Oh, sure, there are always a few in the room who helped Mom or Dad with their Medicare stuff, and so have concluded that they understand the “elephant,” usually only to discover that what they understand is Mom’s or Dad’s side of the elephant, but DON’T PANIC! – Because, Medicare is not what I’m here to talk about (today!); no, today I want to talk about the OTHER subject that will generally lobotomize a room of full of booming Boomers: Alzheimer’s disease.

            There are very few two-word phrases that I know of that will induce that level of fear: “Alzheimer’s disease.” It terrifies us because most of us have seen it, one way or the other, to one degree or another, in place or another. We know that there’s no cure, no hope and no way back, and we know that as the “me” fades away, we are likely to take people that we have purported to love, with us – And most of us, if the truth be known, would trade away a fair number of our remaining days to avoid that.

            Toward the end of last year, in what may have been the last genuinely bipartisan effort of Congress (Nothing unites grossly disparate factions quicker than FEAR!), in our collective memory AND at right about the time I suggested it (he said, humbly), the National Alzheimer’s Plan Act got passed. That was a good idea because (a) there are 5.4 million folks living with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. right now, and that could rocket to 16 million by 2050, which is only 39 years away, AND (b) it’s the 6^th leading cause of death, and the only one in the “top ten” causes without a way to prevent, cure or even slow it’s progression! Convinced? Me, too.

            So now the question becomes, what do we need that National Alzheimer’s Plan Act to actually do; after all, if you were inventing Medicare, would it look the way it currently looks? Probably not, so the Alzheimer’s Association’s Western and Central Washington State Chapter is putting on a series of public input sessions to hear from you – Us! – About what this Plan should include, which actually borders on uncommon common sense.

            Nobody – I repeat, NOBODY – Knows as much about the day-to-day realities of this disease as do the people who are living with it, or have. And it doesn’t really matter if it is or was “Alzheimer’s” or any form of dementia or memory loss – If you’ve walked the walk, you know.

            So we’re hoping that you’ll join us at the Sequim Senior Activity Center (921 E. Hammond Street in Sequim, if you didn’t know) tomorrow (August 26^th) from 1:00 to 3:00 to be a part of what we hope will be, someday, the “solution.” I’m told that I’m going to “moderate” this gathering, and I have absolutely no idea what that means, but I don’t care, because it isn’t about me – It’s about you, and what you know and what you’ve learned and what you need and what you worry about and what would actually help.

            The Chapter will collect input from around the state and present it to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal agency responsible for actually creating said Plan. No way you can get to the Sequim Senior Activity Center tomorrow anywhere between 1:00 and 3:00? OK, I’m not going to pretend I don’t get it; then, go to www.alz.org/napa and see what you see, but the best thing would be to see you, tomorrow, and here’s why:

            This is about thousands and millions of people’s lives, so we need the smartest folks around. We need you.

Peninsula Daily News column, 8-18-11 "Foreclosures and yet another scam"

            We’ve all been working on a “Boomer Primer,” which simply means a list of “things to think about” as we attempt to get a handle on this “aging thing,” but today I’m going to interrupt myself because, as you may have noticed, life is full of interruptions – That’s why we call it “life.”

            Today I want to take a brief detour into some things that may do some folks some good right now, and “right now” can be pretty seductive if “right now” isn’t so great; for instance:

            More and more of us, or people that more and more of us care about, are facing home foreclosure – It’s terrifying and it’s paralyzing, especially when you’ve been doing everything you can to avoid it and you’ve just hit the proverbial wall; well, what we’ve heard on those TV is promos is true: The worst thing we can do is nothing.

            One of the few good things to come out of the last Washington legislative session was the creation of the “Foreclosure Mediation Program,” and it kicked-in on the 22^nd of July. It says that lenders have to notify borrowers of the availability of foreclosure counseling and the potential for mediation PRIOR TO foreclosure.

            If you’re in this situation, whether you’ve been notified or not, call Washington’s “Foreclosure Prevention Hotline” at 1-877-894-HOME (1-877-894-4663) and do it RIGHT NOW. What (or who) you’ll get on the phone is a housing counselor, or an attorney, who know what they’re talking about, and can help you figure out what you can do, and that may be as far as you need to go.

            IF there appears to be a legal issue, you’ll be referred to the “Home Foreclosure Legal Aid Project,” which is a partnership of the Northwest Justice Project and the Washington State Bar Association designed to provide pro bono (FREE!) legal assistance to low- and moderate-income folks and families facing foreclosure – And that means what?

            Well, if you’re a household of two, is your annual income at or below $58,800ish? Or, if there are four of you, are you around $89,400? Yeah? Then, you’re in the ballpark for this help; remember, think “mediation.”

            And remember, the only way (and the BEST way!) to access this help is to start with the pro’s at the Prevention Hotline, so please do that now, because it’s hard to care about tomorrow when today is terrifying.

            Here’s another, meaning yet another scam: Do you find the Wonderful World of Medicare just a touch…confusing? Get a little lost in the labyrinth of Part Thos or Part That? And what about the “Affordable Care Act” and ACO’s and HMO’s and Advantage Plans and and and…? Well, that confusion hasn’t been lost on the Bad Guys, so some folks have gotten calls that say Medicare is phasing out the current Medicare card and issuing new ones. You’re then asked to verify your address, phone number, banking information, Medicare number, blah blah, and…You’ve been had.

            “Medicare” will NEVER call you about anything like that – EVER! The “old” Medicare cards aren’t going anywhere, so just utter something rude and hang up. Please, always remember: Medicare will never call you for information that they already have. If you get a call like that, or something “weird” in the mail and you just aren’t sure, call any of the numbers at the end of this column and decent people will help you figure it out, for free.

            Here’s another one that came at me, so I’m going to give it to you verbatim:

            “’Coaching Into Care’  is a VA program that works with family members or friends who become aware of a Veteran’s post-deployment difficulties, and supports efforts to find help for the Veteran. This is a national clinical service providing information and help to Veterans and the loved ones who are concerned about them. Confidential help is available by calling 1-888-823-7458.”

            Now, you know what I know.

            Here’s the last one for today:

            It seems that, on May 31^st of this year, Wells Fargo & Company (Wells Fargo) cut a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to compensate folks with disabilities who experienced disability discrimination when trying to call Wells Fargo or Wachovia, or visit one of their branches or retail stores or, in any other way, access their services.

            The discrimination could take the form of physical inaccessibility at branches, refusal by a branch to provide documents in alternate formats, refusals to accept relay calls, policies that cause barriers to equal access by folks with disabilities, etc, and those are just a few examples. If this happened to you, I’ll bet you know it.

            You can file a claim for compensation by sending your name, address, email address and day and evening telephone numbers to WFclaims@usdoj.gov OR leaving a message at 1-866-708-1273 (TTY = 1-866-544-5309), but you have to do this BEFORE January 29, 2012. You have a right.

            Enough for one day? OK, me, too, so next week we’ll get back to our “Boomer Primer” thing – HEY: If aging were easy, everybody would do it!  

Peninsula Daily News column 8-11-11, "Before retirement, plan for is fiscally"

                We’ve embarked upon a journey of attempting to give Boomers (or whoever else might care to come along for the ride) a list of “Things to Think About” regarding the whole “aging thing.” We’re assuming that you (whoever “you” are) are in your early-to-mid 60’s, or rapidly closing in on same, and have been shocked to discover that your immortality is in question; thus, a “Primer for Boomers” might be helpful.

                It might not, but we’re doing it, anyway.

                Last week we talked a bit about “retirement,” and we’ll get back to that, but we were content to observe that (a) you are not required to retire (and the fact is that you’re probably lucky to be working at all!), (b) “retirement” can mean different things to different people; (c) retirement could be WONDERFUL!, and (d) retirement can kill – Not bad for one lousy Thursday – AND we concluded with the obvious observation that…Money counts.

                That seems apparent, right? It isn’t. I don’t know how many folks I’ve watched vault into retirement – DESPERATE to get out of their particular “rat race!” – Only to trip (and, usually, rather rapidly and unceremoniously) over a big “OOPS!” called “money;” or, more specifically, not enough of it.

                If you’re wealthy to the point that this is an inconceivable concern, never mind; besides, you probably aren’t putting your Wall Street investment broker on “hold” to read this little column, anyway – For the rest of us, think about it.

                Statistically and actuarially, we are likely to outlive our parents and grandparents – That’s probably good, but it also means that we are more likely to outlive our money, which is not so good. Now, if your profession, employment potential/status quo, temperament, endurance and goals are such that you have no intention of retiring, again, never mind – But if you’re thinking that retirement (whatever that is) might be an attractive prospect, you need to think about money.

                Have you been saving anything for retirement, e.g. 401-K or whatever? Can you start? Can you increase? Do you have investments of whatever nature? How are they doing? How are they likely to do? Could you live on them?

                If your income, assets and “situation” are such that you need to do some serious “financial planning,” then go find a serious Financial Planner, preferably a certified serious Financial Planner, and here’s why you would want to do that, as opposed to just listening to me, who is a Social Worker: (1) I know very few wealthy social workers, and (2) have yet to see one in any of the myriad mirrors that assault me on a daily basis – Go forth and plan! Now.

                What about Social Security? Now, wait a minute, because I’m going to openly sidestep any political concerns, fears, opinions or prognostications regarding Social Security because I don’t know what is or isn’t going to happen – And neither do you. All of any of us non-wealthy folks can do is try to be as responsible as possible in the game that currently exists, so for most of us, Social Security is a factor – For many of us, Social Security is a MAJOR factor!

                Have you been getting estimates of your Social Security benefits along the way? If not, start now, because they will not only get you into your Social Security “ballpark,” but they also allow you to verify that Social Security has your correct earnings info – AND, the “window” for correcting incorrect info is limited, so I repeat: Start!

                But let’s say that you’ve been tracking this and now you want to begin to look at some scenarios for how you might live if you want to actually live: you can go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator/ and begin to “play.” You can do this IF you have enough credits to qualify for Social Security benefits and you are NOT (a) currently receiving Social Security benefits on your own record; (b) 62 or better and receiving benefits on another person’s record (think “divorce”), or (c) eligible for a pension based on work that is NOT covered by Social Security. If you have no idea what any of that means, or what “credits” are, go rummage around on http://www.socialsecurity.gov/ and TAKE YOUR TIME.

                “OK” to all of the above? Good! Go do it! It’s a pretty slick tool! By the way, there’s a link there for helping you to think about what is the “best” age to start receiving Social Security (which is a SERIOUS consideration for a lot of folks for a lot of reasons) and even one for estimating your life expectancy, if that’s the kind of day you’re having.

                Most professionals who are good at “planning for retirement” talk a lot about “income,” which is why they are good at planning for retirement. The often ignored other-side-of-the-coin is “debt” – Oops. Look: If you’re retirement income is $10,000 per month, but you’re liabilities (debt) total $9,500 per month, you are NOT in good shape. If you’re in debt, do everything you can to either get out or reduce it as dramatically as possible. If you have no idea how to do that, find someone who can help to guide you, and they’re out there.

                Balancing “debt reduction” with “income generation” (in other words, paying “it” off vs. saving for retirement) can be delicate. Use the same simplistic example from above: If you don’t owe anybody anything, but you’re only bringing in $500 per month, you are NOT in good shape, so think it through, and if you need a “pro” to help you, get one.

                If your employment prospects are great, you have no intention of retiring, you like paying interest and have never encountered the phrase, “delayed gratification,” never mind.

                Again, the point of this whole “Boomer Primer” thing is to get you to think, not to get you to go “this way” or “that way.” What we’re trying to do is avoid ugly surprises that often come 6-12 months into what was supposed to be a reasonably happy retirement, which may (or may not) be part of your whole “aging thing.”

                If you like surprises, feel free to do absolutely nothing, as you celebrate your bold and fearless spirit!

                …with a can of tuna.

Peninsula Daily News column 8-4-11, "Retirement: Be realistic about time"

                OK, now, what’re we doing?

                Well, mercifully, I have no idea what you’re doing at the moment, nor do I feel a pressing need to know (propriety being what it is), but the rest of us are just embarking on an extended glimpse at what this “aging thing” might look like if you’re in your early-to-mid 60’s, or closing in on same; in other words, a primer for Boomers – “Things to think about,” as it were.

                Here’s some really good advice: Go find some really good advice – And the best place to look will be in the minds and hearts of folks who have done, or are doing, “it;” preferably folks who, as near as you can tell, have done or are doing “it” reasonably well. And don’t forget to ask things like, “What would you do differently?” Or, “What do you wish you hadn’t done?” If they like you, and they think that you’re genuinely interested, they’ll probably tell you the truth.

                And ask more than one.

                Last week, we got out of the gate with “DON’T PANIC,” meaning simply that this “aging thing” is doable, and we danced around our own mortality, trying to get to some acceptance about the fact we probably won’t live forever, but that it isn’t over ‘til it’s over; in other words, who (and how) do we choose to be.

                Assuming that, since you’ve had an entire week to resolve one of the great philosophical, spiritual and metaphysical conundrums of life, you’re ready to move on, let’s charge headlong into another very big word: RETIREMENT.

                Here’s something that startles a lot of folks: You are not required to retire.

                Well, you’re not! – Now, it’s possible that you’re particular line of work may have some “mandatory retirement” requirement, or it’s entirely possible that whatever it is you do requires a significant degree of physical strain that might make doing it into your 70’s or 80’s less than irresistible, but for most of us, not so much.

                A more likely response for many of us working folks is, “I can’t WAIT to retire!” What that usually means is: I’m-sick-of-doing-this-particular-thing-and-the-BS-that-goes-along-with-it-and-I’d-just-like-to-have-every-day-be-a-Saturday! I get it.

                And when we say that, we’re thinking about our “to do” lists or untamed gardens or uncaught fish or unread books or grandchildren that we haven’t see for two hours or or or…OK, I get that, too, so close your eyes for just a minute and think about it – Think about having every single day all to yourself (more or less) – What does that look like?

                How many years will it take you to clean out the garage?

                Or work through all those recipes or books or paint the fence or wash the windows or write those letters or learn to speak Laotian?

                And are you going to do all that stuff mostly at home, alone? Or just with each other? How does that look to you?

                It wasn’t that long ago that what happened (mostly to men, but not exclusively) was that you worked- worked-WORKED, then you retired, hung-out for a couple of years and died on a convenient, actuarial schedule; well, I hate to be the one to tell you this, BUT…You are NOT your grandfather – Or even your father (well, of course you are, but let’s not get distracted by genetics and questionable pastimes) - The fact is, you are likely to live noticeably longer than they did.

                Got it? Now, close your eyes again and think about all that stuff again, and be realistic: How many zucchinis are your neighbors really going to be willing to take off your hands?

                Do I sound negative? If I do, I apologize, because I’ve seen many folks spring into blissful retirement and enjoy every minute of it! They love every day and give of themselves and can’t imagine doing anything else or being any happier! And here’s something else I’ve seen: Retirement kills – Or it can.

                It can if you haven’t given it a modicum of thought, because there will still be 24 hours in every day and seven days in every week – Are you someone who can enjoy that? Will you revel in that lack of structure? Will you have ways to “contribute?”  Things to do that make you feel OK about you? If YES, HALLELUJAH!

                If NO, be prepared to rust as your world gets smaller and smaller, and you fill up your days with things that just fill up days, and those “questionable pastimes” become “lifestyles.”

                There is no “right” or “wrong” here – The point is to get this on your “Things to think about” list. Do you want to retire, or do you just need a vacation? Or do you need to quit working at what you’ve been working at and go work at something else? That’s allowed. Or, just work a little less? Happens all the time.

                And, of course, there is something else to consider here, remembering that you aren’t your mother or your grandmother: This is the western hemisphere in the 21^st century, and this is America: Money counts.

                A little something different: The Olympic Area Agency on Aging runs and funds a number of services for Elders, folks with disabilities, caregivers, etc. Every four years, they are required to put together an “Area Plan” that details all of their programs and services, and what is planned for the next four years, and you could have a look at that by going to http://o3a.org/ (or you could call 379-5064 or 1-866-720-4863 and ask for a copy); then, if you have something to say about what you see, you could show up at the Clallam County courthouse at 1:30 on August 8^th and say it.

                It’s called a “public hearing” because the idea is to hear from the public.