Search results for elder care
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Posted
Sep 18 2009, 01:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Here's a statistic that should give us all pause: The average credit card debt of seniors grew by 26% between 2005 and 2008, CreditCards.com reports. For the rest of us, the increase was a comparatively modest 3%.
Also, CreditCards.com says: "According to a study (.pdf file) released in July 2009 by New York City-based Demos, a public policy group, consumers 65 and older carried $10,235 in average card debt last year." That is a lot.
And that's very troubling, considering that so many retirees are living on Social Security and no other savings, and face considerable medical expenses despite government-run Medicare. The dreaded "doughnut hole" is just a drop in the bucket compared with the other potential health care-related demands on their money.
Bing: Do you have to pay your parents' debt?
What's happening here?
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Posted
Aug 24 2009, 12:13 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Here's a headline that's bound to get your attention: "Millions face shrinking Social Security checks." Or how about this one? "Social Security payments sans COLA puts millions at risk." What's going on here? Are seniors getting the shaft?
Partial answer: Not really.
Because the inflation rate has been negative, the nation's 50 million Social Security recipients aren't likely to get a cost-of-living increase next year or the year after that. That hasn't happened since annual adjustments for inflation were made automatic in 1975. However, keep in mind that:
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Posted
Mar 25 2009, 08:17 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Mr. ToughMoneyLove at Tough Money Love.
What goes around, comes around. How many times have you heard that phrase used as a subtle threat or reminder of another's misbehavior?
Boomeranger. That's a word that baby boomers invented to label -- in a semi-demeaning sort of way -- adult children who return to their parents' home to escape the realities of their own financial problems. (I actually don't think that all boomerangers should be demeaned, but that's another topic for another day.)
I have a new phrase to talk about: the boomer boomeranger.
Now that the retirement nest eggs of many baby boomers have been crushed by falling markets, some of those boomers are a future threat to boomerang on their adult children. Retirement Plan A (or for some boomers, Plan Zero) has failed. Retirement Plan B may become "mooch off my kids."
Mr. ToughMoneyLove has some thoughts about how to dodge a boomeranger parent. First, a little background.
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Posted
Aug 29 2008, 09:33 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Last night I bought a plane ticket to New Jersey for the holidays. I'll stay about a week so I can work at my dad's annual New Year's Eve country line dance party: help set up tables, take care of the food, refill the cooler with soda and bottled water, and pitch in to clean up afterwards.
Here's the kicker: I don't particularly like country music. In fact, I listen exclusively to KING-FM, Seattle's classical station. Nor am I going to South Jersey in December because it's beautiful there at that time of year. I'm visiting to spend time with my dad, my younger brother and other loved ones while I have the chance.
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Posted
Jul 15 2008, 04:57 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
You know what happens when you ask Grandma and Grandpa what they want for their birthday or Christmas. They say, "I have everything I need." "Chances are that's exactly what you heard, probably followed by 'so don't buy me anything.' And they mean it," Blunt Money reminds us in a wise and lovely post called "Everything you need (and want)." She adds that we can learn from their example: "The thing is, many of us probably do have everything we need, right now, without even realizing it."
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Posted
Jul 15 2008, 08:33 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Less than a year after the Federal Trade Commission settled with Craftmatic for breaking telemarketing rules, the agency may now be investigating the adjustable-bed manufacturer for its door-to-door sales tactics. ConsumerAffairs.com has received 134 complaints dating back to 2000 about Craftmatic beds -- many regarding what consumers say are pushy sales tactics that prey on the elderly.
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Posted
Jan 14 2008, 09:05 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Procrastination paid off for me this weekend. On my list of Saturday errands was "transfer prescription to Rite Aid," because that store was offering $20 gift cards to do so. Somehow I never made it over there. And am I glad I didn't: The Sunday paper offered a coupon good for a $30 Rite Aid gift card for transferring a prescription, plus $10 more in scrip for refilling. It was a good weekend for cheapskating. Sale prices plus coupons scored me six months' worth of iron tablets for $5.27 and four pounds of Golden Grain pasta for 88 cents at Bartell Drugs, a local chain. Over at Walgreens, I got 400 Lipton teabags and two large jars of mayo for $5.31 (this price included instant and mail-in rebates). I've heard all the arguments about coupons: They're not cost-effective. They're mostly for junk food. Using them makes you buy things you wouldn't otherwise buy. Sometimes these complaints are valid. But not always. Look, I just bought four months' worth of iced tea for about 86 cents for a month, half a year's doctor-ordered iron pills for about 87 cents a month. If you ask me, those are pretty good deals.
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Posted
Oct 16 2007, 08:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity . It's always possible to get an influenza vaccination unless the vaccine is in short supply, but it's another matter to find a free flu shot. If you're elderly or in another at-risk group, you stand the best chance of getting a free shot. If you're healthy and can afford spending $20, I recommend you leave the freebies for those less fortunate and pay for your shot. Where can you find a free flu shot? Your employer . Many companies offer flu shots to employees because it makes business sense. Ask your company's medical services department or human resources department if flu shots are provided. If they aren't, recommend that your company investigate the idea. Explain how offering a $20 shot for free is better than having to put up with lost productivity when people take sick days. In my short working life, the two companies I've worked for both offered a flu shot. Since everyone in the company generally gets the shot
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Posted
Sep 26 2007, 08:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Five Cent Nickel. Have you ever heard of "longevity insurance”? In short, longevity insurance is a relatively new form of insurance that provides you with a guaranteed stream of income later in life, typically starting after you turn 85. To get longevity insurance, you have to make a substantial up-front payment 20 or so years earlier. Longevity insurance is really just a repackaged deferred annuity that's targeted for retirement-age individuals concerned about whether they'll outlive their savings. There are differences.
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