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Social Security and You: The Social Security Fairness Act is a $200 Billion Boondoggle
Congress just passed a law that will give me (and millions of people like me) extra Social Security benefits that we simply do not deserve and haven't earned.
To understand what is going on, here is a quick history lesson: The original Social Security Act included unintentional and overly generous benefits for government employees. These were ...Read more
What is Medicare’s General Enrollment Period?
I turned 65 in June, 2 years ago and did not enroll in Medicare because I do not have any health issues. A friend advised me to enroll in Medicare during Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period. I received a letter stating that because I did not enroll in Medicare when I turned 65 that I have been denied Medicare.
The letter also stated that ...Read more
Social Security and You: The History of the Social Security Number
I have a granddaughter who is a junior in high school. Recently, she needed to write a report for her history class on any subject related to a federal government program. Because she knew that her grandpa worked for the Social Security Administration for 32 years, she initially thought she'd write about the history of Social Security. I told ...Read more
This couple said no to aging in place, selling everything they owned to travel
MINNEAPOLIS -- While millions of baby boomers are retrofitting their houses with bathtub grab bars and wheelchair ramps in an effort to age in place, one Minnesota couple is doing away with that conventional concept altogether.
Scott and Kate Carlson sold nearly everything they own, including their home in Eden Prairie, in preparation for the ...Read more
How the war against rheumatic heart disease was – and wasn't – won
If you grew up in the United States after the middle of the past century, you've probably never thought much about rheumatic fever. And for good reason. In that era, the disease seemed to become a thing of the past.
But in the first part of the 20th century, it was ever-present, untreatable and devastating.
"About 100 years ago, there were ...Read more
Elderly couple back in their home with help from Tyler Perry
ATLANTA -- Dorothy and George Williams lived through three Atlanta winters in a house with no heat, electricity, running water or even interior walls. Last year, the cold was so bitter that 73-year-old Dorothy was rushed to Grady Hospital with blood clots after one of her legs froze.
Their home on Fontaine Avenue just off Cascade Road in ...Read more
They met in the 1950s at their Virginia elementary school. Now in their 80s, they still hold reunions
NORFOLK, Va. — About 30 friends crowded around four tables this fall at Gus and George’s Spaghetti and Steak House in Virginia Beach chatting about when gas tanks could be filled for less than a dollar. As they waited on their lunches of fried fish and burgers, they remembered when Lucille Ball was all the rage, their parents preached ...Read more
How 6 women needed just 8 weeks to lower their biological ages by years
It took only two months, some lifestyle changes and clever supplement use for six women to turn back their biological clocks an average of 4.6 years.
Published in the journal Aging, the study’s half-dozen participants ranged from 46 to 65 years old. They engaged in a “methylation-supportive diet” as part of their eight-week lifestyle ...Read more
Road Trips & Recipes: Holidays merry and bright light up North Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach positively glows during the holidays. As the birthplace of the Shag (that upbeat and kicky regional dance inspired by the jitterbug), the beachy berg goes all in for merrymaking.
But rather than snow and mistletoe, this South Carolina coastal charmer brings sand and the Grand Strand—and millions of twinkling lights, miles ...Read more
Resources are expanding for older adults on their own
Jeff Kromrey, 69, will sit down with his daughter the next time she visits and show her how to access his online accounts if he has an unexpected health crisis.
Gayle Williams-Brett, 69, plans to tackle a project she’s been putting off for months: organizing all her financial information.
Michael Davis, 71, is going to draft a living will ...Read more
A centenarian thrives living alone, active and engaged
“The future is here,” the email announced. Hilda Jaffe, then 88, was letting her children know she planned to sell the family home in Verona, New Jersey. She’d decided to begin life anew — on her own — in a one-bedroom apartment in Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan.
Fourteen years later, Jaffe, now 102, still lives alone — just a few ...Read more
Enroll in Medicare the right way when leaving employer benefits
Dear Toni,
I am retiring in February when I turn 65 and will need to enroll in Medicare Parts A and B with a Medicare Supplement and a Part D prescription drug plan.
My husband, James, is 72 and has heart issues, so he enrolled in Medicare A and B when he turned 65 and remained on my company benefits to have his heart surgery. He is taking ...Read more
Social Security and You: 6 Questions and 6 Answers
My columns are usually focused on one theme or topic. But every once in a while, I like to just dig into my email inbox and pull out random questions. Here are six for today.
Q: I was married to my ex for 23 years. Of course, I worked all of those years. But I also worked and paid into Social Security for about 10 years before we were married. ...Read more
Homebound seniors living alone often slip through health system’s cracks
Carolyn Dickens, 76, was sitting at her dining room table, struggling to catch her breath as her physician looked on with concern.
“What’s going on with your breathing?” asked Peter Gliatto, director of Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program.
“I don’t know,” she answered, so softly it was hard to hear. “Going from here to the ...Read more
Homebound seniors living alone often slip through health system's cracks
Carolyn Dickens, 76, was sitting at her dining room table, struggling to catch her breath as her physician looked on with concern.
“What’s going on with your breathing?” asked Peter Gliatto, director of Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program.
“I don’t know,” she answered, so softly it was hard to hear. “Going from here to the ...Read more
Taylor Swift fans are mobilizing to help Chiefs’ Travis Kelce win NFL’s Man of Year prize
The NFL on Thursday announced all 32 nominees for its annual Walter Payton Man of the Year award, and tight end Travis Kelce is the Chiefs’ representative.
“I’m truly honored to be nominated as the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year,” Kelce said in a news release. “This organization and this city mean so much to me and to have the ...Read more
I picked the wrong Advantage plan … when can I return to original Medicare?
Toni:
I never should have listened to my brother who bragged about how his Medicare Advantage plan was a great way to save money and not have to spend so much on my Medicare supplement plan’s premium. I discovered that the eye doctor who was to perform surgery on my right eye in early January is not in this plan. I should have called his ...Read more
Social Security and You: You Say Tomato, I Say Tomahto!
Every once in a while, I will use a word or phrase -- with the most innocent of intentions -- that nevertheless ends up driving some people nuts. Well, if not "nuts," it at least makes them irate enough to send me an email voicing their anger with my language choices. I've saved some up, and here they are today.
Q: It really gets my goat when ...Read more
Making sense of Medicare’s inpatient ‘under observation’ hospital rule
Toni,
I have Original Medicare with a Supplement and in October, I was taken by ambulance to the emergency room for heart issues. I was surprised when I signed a hospital form stating that I was “under observation,” as the doctor decided whether to admit me as an inpatient or send me home. I was lucky that he sent me home.
During this ...Read more
Social Security and You: Social Security - A Global View
I have always been amazed by the number of people who think Social Security is unique to the United States. Or if not truly unique, they figure that maybe a couple of those "socialist" countries such as Sweden and Denmark might have social insurance programs in place, but surely not too many other places. As someone once said to me following a ...Read more
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