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Social Security and You: Less for Others but More for Me
Less for Others but More for Me
I had originally planned to use this space to write a follow-up column to one I wrote several weeks ago about the misnamed "Social Security Fairness Act." But I've decided it's not worth it.
For decades, government retirees who worked at jobs not covered by Social Security, but who did pay into the program at ...Read more
Stroke survivors may benefit from brief bursts of intense exercise
Short bursts of intense exercise may better improve cardiovascular fitness among stroke survivors than continuously exercising at a more moderate level, new research finds, adding to what's known about the role exercise can play in stroke recovery.
"Exercise is a really crucial part of rehabilitation," said study co-author Dr. Ada Tang, a ...Read more
Many older heart patients have questions about sex, but few are getting answers
Talking about sex can be uncomfortable. But older adults with heart conditions often have questions they want answered – and new research suggests they may not be getting the information they'd like.
A small survey of adults with heart conditions in Sweden found only 5% of people received information about sexual health, despite more than 3 ...Read more
American Indian adults may face higher rates of heart failure
Heart failure rates may be two to three times higher among American Indian populations than studies have found for Black, Hispanic or white adults, according to a new analysis, one of the first to focus on a group that has been largely underrepresented in research on this condition.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart ...Read more
How these 5 steps can help you travel the right way after retirement
One of the things new retirees look forward to is having the time to travel. Without PTO limits, vacations after retirement can be something new and different.
It can be so new and different, however, that it can be hard to know where to start. Here are a few golden rules you can follow to make each trip as smooth and worthwhile as possible.
...Read more
Contact your local Congressperson for help with Social Security/Medicare
Toni:
Last week’s Medicare Part D question was from Tonya regarding discovering that she and her husband are receiving an “extra” Part D premium, which she never knew about. You advised her to contact her local Congressional office to help appeal the Medicare issue.
I now must fight Social Security because they are under the ...Read more
LGBTQ+ people relive old traumas as they age on their own
Bill Hall, 71, has been fighting for his life for 38 years. These days, he’s feeling worn out.
Hall contracted HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS, in 1986. Since then, he’s battled depression, heart disease, diabetes, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney cancer, and prostate cancer. This past year, Hall has been hospitalized five times with ...Read more
Social Security and You: Turning Full Retirement Age in 2025? Consider Filing for Benefits This Month
I write a column like this one every January. But I don't mind plagiarizing myself, because it contains a very important message for people planning to retire in 2025.
January is a critical month for the hundreds of thousands of potential Social Security beneficiaries who are reaching their full retirement age in 2025. The important message: ...Read more
Why am I paying more for my 2025 Part D premium?
Dear Toni:
In December 2016, you assisted me and my husband Gary in leaving my employer’s benefits. We enrolled into Medicare Part B with a Medicare Supplement and Part D prescription drug plan that began on January 1, 2017.
The 2024 Medicare AEP is the ONLY year that we have changed from the original Medicare Part D plan that we ...Read more
Social Security and You: Social Security Update for 2025
It has been my custom for most of the past 27 years to write a year-end column that summarizes the Social Security updates scheduled to take place the following year. I already discussed some of these updates in a column back in October when they were first announced, but it doesn't hurt to repeat them here. (They all grow out of the annual cost...Read more
What’s the difference between home health care and in-home care?
Note: Due to the continued confusion on the issue, Toni is rerunning this column from May. It has been slightly updated.
Dear Toni,
I need your help regarding my parents who are in their late 80s. My mother has been disabled with Parkinson’s for the past 3 years and my father has been her caretaker, but due to his recent heart attack, he...Read more
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