Image Source: Dailymail Q. Last month, my 82 year-old mother, Shirley, fainted and hit her back on the bathroom counter on her way to the ground. When she came to, she could hardly move, but she was able to grab her phone to dial 911. She was taken to the emergency room, where the attending […]
Why Take Advantage of End-of-life Care Talks?
Dear Baxter, I just read that Medicare will fund end-of-life planning discussions with doctors, as of Jan. 1, 2016. Why is this important? My doctor already does this for free. And why should seniors take advantage of these talks? I personally don’t want to talk about death and dying. Thanks in advance for your thoughts! […]
How Do You Tell Loved Ones That You Have Alzheimer’s?
Greg O’Brien and his family (source: onpluto.org) Fifty-nine year old Greg O’Brien lives a healthy and happy life. He exercises every day, makes a good living, and spends lots of quality time with his wife and three children. Five years ago, Greg started to notice changes in himself. He was forgetting things, and his judgment sometimes seemed impaired. Meanwhile, his own mother was dying of Alzheimer’s disease. Greg […]
Be Very Afraid: Our Top Ten Scariest Articles
With Halloween upon us, now is the time when we present you with this year’s scariest & creepiest stories. From posthumous messages from loved ones to Alzheimer’s being contagious, we uncovered some scary ground. To celebrate Halloween, we’ve ranked our scariest articles for you to revisit (if you dare). As always, thank you for reading […]
Spooky or Reassuring? Posthumous Messages from Loved Ones
Image from express.co.uk Imagine you had a letter from someone who was likely to pass away – could you resist reading it? Morgan received a letter from her cancer-stricken brother-in-law, Jack, to be opened after his death. She put it in her safety deposit box, to keep from opening it. When his health took a […]
Mandating Overtime Pay for In-Home Caregivers
My mother-in-law, Stella, lives alone in her home in Florida, and her health has been declining for some time. About a year ago, we hired an in-home caregiver for her who comes 4 hours every day from a local agency. Now her health is deteriorating more rapidly, and we are thinking of hiring a live-in […]
Veterans DON’T Delay (3-Year Look-Back is Imminent)
Photo from discoveryvillages.com. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) helps veterans and their families by providing supplemental tax-free income through the VA Special Pension with the Aid and Attendance benefit. The Aid and Attendance benefit helps veterans to offset the high cost of medical care and access care that they otherwise might not have been able […]
Preparing Yourself for Medicare Open Enrollment
Every day, an average of 10,000 Americans will become eligible for Medicare as they turn 65 — and face a complex new set of health care decisions. If you’re among them, you may feel perplexed about what you need to do about Medicare and when. And, if you do, you are not alone. In fact, […]
What She Doesn’t Know About Social Security Could Cost Her Thousands
Q. My mother, Eileen, and her husband, Ray, just recently got divorced after 15 years of marriage. My step-father was the primary breadwinner throughout their marriage, while my mother was a homemaker, who worked a little here and there. Now that she’s turned 62, my mother wants to begin collecting Social Security as her sole […]
Giving Money to Your Children (while you’re still alive)
Janet’s granddaughter, Grace, recently got accepted to veterinary school. Janet is thrilled at this huge accomplishment, and would like to give Grace a gift of $40,000 ($10,000 a year), to help her pay for school, so she wouldn’t have as many loans to repay when she graduates. For Janet, the experience of losing her own […]
Don’t Attempt this on Your Own
Image from Scientific American Q. My Aunt Linda is very stubborn. She has been divorced twice, has three kids, two step-children, and a grandchild on the way. She did her estate planning documents when she was married to her first husband, and insists on making updates to them with a red pen. I told her that […]
Is Alzheimer’s Contagious?
There are currently 5.2 million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer’s, and the number is expected to triple by 2050. It has long been believed that Alzheimer’s is caused only by age and genetics, but new research says person-to-person transmission of the protein that causes Alzheimer’s may be a possibility. So, does that mean that […]
Living with Fewer Rights than a Convicted Felon
Q. My 30-year-old cousin, Donnie, is intellectually disabled. He works at the Wendy’s near my house, serving burgers and greeting customers with a smile. He has a bank account, saves most of the money he earns, makes a mean chili, and drives to work each day. Yet, his mother has guardianship over him, leaving him […]
Lending a Paw for Veterans
Robert Soliz, a 31-year-old former Army Specialist, participates in Paws for Purple Hearts. (Joseph Matthews, Veterans Affairs Photo) After being married for just six weeks, Mark, a U.S.Army veteran who was stationed in Iraq, sustained severe combat injuries, rendering him quadriplegic. When he arrived home, he felt despair and sadness. He could no longer do […]
Straying from Loved Ones
Q. This past summer, I went to Burke Lake Park with a friend, Mary, who has a child with autism. While purchasing a ticket for the carousel for another child, Mary’s son wandered off. After searching for a bit, and involving the park authorities and the police, he was found near the train tracks (and […]
“Life Reimagined”- Guidance for Retirement Planning
Are you at a point in your life where you’re asking, “What’s next?” You’ve finished one chapter and you have yet to write the next one, and this one involves an empty nest, no more commuting to the office, lots more time for yourself, and limitless options. Many of us face these exciting transitions as […]
Finding Joy in Alzheimer’s
Photo from everydayfamily.com Q. It’s National Grandparent’s Day on Sunday, September 13. My children want to do something special with their grandpa, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, ever since the diagnosis, he has resigned himself to the fact that he is sick, and has not left his house. My children can’t […]
A Year Later: Robin Williams’ Family is Still at Odds
Robin Williams with his son, Zak, and his wife, Susan in 2012. Photo from New York Times Many wealthy people die having done inadequate estate planning, or none at all. This was not the case with late comedian Robin Williams, or so we thought. It seemed that Mr. Williams attempted to spell out his wishes […]
Please Don’t Leave that to Me!
Source: dalje.com Q. My aunt Bettina (Betty) has over 6,000 Barbie dolls, worth more than $150,000, that she mentioned she may leave to me when she does her estate planning. Although they are valuable, I am secretly hoping she doesn’t, because she wants them displayed in their own room, and asks that they never be sold. The challenge for […]
Are they Senior Moments or is it Dementia?
Can you remember the great meal you had last weekend, but can’t remember the name of the restaurant? Have you ever frantically called your cell phone in an effort to find it, only to realize it was in your pocket the whole time, or looked for your glasses when they were sitting atop your head? […]
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