Important Medicare Tips for Boomers

Baby Boomers are turning age 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day.  When they do, they become eligible for Medicare.  It is extremely important that Baby Boomers prepare for this milestone and sign up for Medicare a few months BEFORE their 65th birthday.  A delay can cause them to spend extra money for Medicare premiums for the rest of their lives!  You should apply for basic Medicare, even if you are still working and you are eligible for insurance through your employer.

Here are a few additional facts that every Baby Boomer needs to know before they turn 65.

Medicare Tips for Baby Boomers

1.  Enroll in Medicare as soon as possible.  You can contact your local Social Security office for an appointment and sign up while you are there.  You may especially want to handle your application this way if you are also applying for your Social Security benefits at the same time.  However, another choice is to apply for your Medicare benefits online in about 10 minutes by using the government website at www.socialsecurity.gov/medicareonly.  You can complete the application once you are 64 years and 8 months old.  You do NOT want to wait until after your 65th birthday.

2.  If you are still working when you turn 65, and you are covered by a medical insurance plan through your employer, you still need to file for Medicare Parts A and B, even if you will not be using those benefits for a few years.  Again, you need to do this before your 65th birthday, so you can save money on premiums when you do begin to rely on Medicare.

3.  Medicare is divided into four parts:  Original Parts A and B, which help cover hospital and doctor bills; Part C, which is an extra Medicare Advantage program you purchase to cover some of the expenses not covered by A and B; and Part D, which is drug coverage.  When you choose a Medicare Advantage plan, or Part C, those plans usually also include Parts A, B and D so that everything is together in one convenient plan.

4.  There are many different Medicare Advantage plans, and most of them will offer informational meetings in your community.  However, one of my friends simply called her current doctors and asked them which Advantage programs they liked the best.  She found there was one particular plan that kept being mentioned, so that is the Advantage program she chose.  You should also know that there are different prices and benefits available for the various plans, too, so shop around.  They are all required by law to provide the same benefits as basic Medicare and most of them provide additional benefits and/or lower co-pays and deductibles than basic Medicare.

5.  Instead of a Medicare Advantage plan, you may wish to purchase a Medicare Supplement plan, instead.  In this case, you have both basic Medicare AND an additional insurance policy.  The premiums are usually higher than they are for a Medicare Advantage plan, but you may find a plan that will result in zero co-pays and your complete choice of doctors in a PPO plan.  This is very appealing to some people who feel it is worth paying extra.  However, for many people, a Medicare Advantage plan that includes their favorite doctors is an excellent choice.  Go to a few informational meetings and decide which choice is best for you ... a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare Supplement plan.

6.  If you believe that you cannot afford your Medicare premiums, ask for help from your local Social Security office or through an insurance consultant with the Affordable Care Act.  Low income retirees can qualify for help and I encourage them to take advantage of the assistance programs.

If you are interested in learning more about Medicare, health issues that can arise in retirement, financial planning, where to retire, changing family relationships and more, use the tabs or pull down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional articles.

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Exercises for Your Brain

Over the past year, several readers of this blog have asked me about the best exercises for the brain.  I listed a few in an article I wrote called "Brain Activities to Lower Alzheimers Risk," which some of you may have missed.  I'll repeat those exercises here, but I am also going to add some that I have recently heard about.  After all, we need all the advise we can get, if we want to keep our brains in top shape as we age!

In the AAA Westways Magazine for July/August, 2012, there was a short article about brain boosters.  What I particularly liked about their article was the statement, "any type of exercise will help the brain."  That was certainly good news, because most of us do not strictly follow a brain building program! 

Another thing I liked about the Westways Magazine list was the fact that their exercises are designed especially for people who are traveling ... which a lot of us Baby Boomers will be doing, especially after they retire.  By putting all the different exercises together, I've come up with the following list.

My List of Exercises for the Brain

Try cross-training for the brain. (Use the opposite hand to do common activities, such as eating or brushing your teeth)

Practice memorizing lists of words, by using silly word associations.

Do crossword puzzles, soduku or similar word games.

Learn something new and difficult, such as playing an instrument, speaking a new language, or developing your computer skills.

Socialize.  There is a great deal of research that shows it hurts your physical and mental health to let yourself become isolated.  Get out and meet people.  Join a club.  Learn to play bridge. (If it is new to you, it is even better for your brain.)  Make sure you are having fun with other people several times a week.

Do cardio exercises to get the blood pumping to your brain.  Try walking fast, riding a bike or using a treadmill or the exercise equipment at your local gym or hotel fitness center, when you are on the road.  When you are on a trip, you should also walk as much as you can.  The fresh air and exercise are both good for your brain.

Do strength building exercises, like push ups, or use free weights to build strength.  Building muscle also helps keep the blood flowing.

Dance!  Put on some music you love, and dance, dance, dance.  If you enjoy it, sign up for line dancing classes or jazzercise.

Try using two or more senses at once.  Walk up and down the aisle of a train or plane while you are traveling, which requires you to keep your balance, while using your eyes, sense of touch, etc. 

Laugh.  More and more often I hear about the benefits of laughing aloud several times a day.  It is good for our heart, brain and overall health.

Take a few deep breaths several times a day.  Inhale, hold your breath; exhale, hold your breath.  Repeat.

Sleep.  People who have at least seven hours of sleep a night seem to do better on many different types of health evaluations.

Finally, it is important to eat well.  While this is not an exercise, it should be mentioned in any article about brain health.  Include good quality protein and a variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet every day.

If you are interested in more information about your health as you age, financial planning, where to retire, changing family relationships and more, use the tabs or pull down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional articles.

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How the Affordable Healthcare Act Affects You

The Affordable Heathcare Act has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and is the law of the land.  While millions of people have been able to obtain insurance under it, some for the first time, many other people are confused about how it will affect them.  If you are interested in reading the full text of the Healthcare Act, you can find it on the government's website at HHS.gov.  It has detailed information that will pertain to people of all ages.  However, below are some key provisions that will be of interest to those of us who are 50 and older.

If You are on Medicare

If you are already on Medicare, it means that you now qualify for a yearly wellness visit and other preventive services for free, including no-cost screenings for cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases.  There will be better discounts on drugs for senior citizens. Improvements will be made to care for seniors after they leave the hospital. You may also receive help if you need to stop smoking. On regular Medicare, there will be no co-payment or deductible for screenings such as:

Bone mass measurement
Cervical cancer
Cholesterol and other cardiovascular screenings
Most colorectal screenings
Diabetes screenings
HIV screenings, if requested
Mammograms
Prostate cancer screening

You should also be able to get free flu shots, pneumonia shots and the hepatitis B shot.

If you are in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you need to check with your provider for information about their benefits.  However, Medicare Advantage Plans are required to provide the same minimum benefits as regular Medicare and, in some cases, may even be better.

If you have a Medicare Supplement Plan, you will have basic Medicare plus whatever additional benefits your supplement plan provides.

Whatever type of Medicare you have, you may also want to supplement your insurance with a vision and dental plan.  Most Medicare plans do not include these benefits; you must purchase a separate plan for them.

If You are Not Yet on Medicare

For those people over the age of 50 who are still working and not yet old enough for Medicare, the Affordable Healthcare Act was completely implemented by January 1, 2014.  Here are some of the significant changes taking place:

Small Business Health Insurance Tax Credits to make it easier for small companies to provide insurance for their employees.

Federal matching funds that help states cover more people on Medicaid.  Unfortunately, some states have opted out of accepting these matching funds, which means that insurance is unnecessarily expensive for middle class residents of those states.  Some states, however, are beginning to change their minds and reducing the barriers to accepting the matching funds.  You will have to check with insurance representatives in your state to see if you could be eligible for financial assistance with your premiums.

A program to provide financial help for employment based insurance plans so they can continue to cover people who retire between ages 55 and 65, as well as their spouses and dependents.

You cannot be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition.

Young adults can now stay on their parent's insurance plan until they are 26 years old.  This has been a tremendous help to young adults who are in graduate school, student teaching or doing internships for little or not pay.

No deductible, co-pay or coinsurance payment for certain preventive services such as mammograms and colonoscopies.

Insurance cannot be cancelled if you get sick.

Insurance cannot be dropped if you participate in a clinical trial.  (Personally, I didn't know this was even possible before.  My husband has been participating in a clinical trial of a drug for chronic kidney disease.)

No annual or lifetime limits on your insurance coverage.

Children cannot be denied insurance coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

Women will no longer be charged more for their health insurance.

Insurance companies have to justify premium increases and show that a significant portion of the premiums they collect are going to provide healthcare benefits.  This requirement seems to work better in some states than others.  In some states, like California, the Insurance Commissioner cannot block premium increases.  Some state legislators are working to change this.

Expansion of community health centers; incentives to increase the numbers of doctors, nurses and other heathcare professionals.

There are many more details than could possibly be included in this blog.  Although there remain glitches in the Healthcare Act and people who still fall through the cracks, millions of uninsured people have obtained insurance through it and this trend is expected to continue in coming years.

If you are interested in learning more about health issues affecting senior citizens, changing family relationships, where to retire or financial planning, use the tabs or pull down menu at the top of this page to find links to hundreds of additional useful articles.

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Independent Travel vs. Guided Vacations

Baby Boomers love to travel.  From the time we hit college age, we began exploring the world and many of us plan to continue to do so after retirement.  Now, however, we have become a little older and wiser.  Boomers are no longer quite as willing to buy a Volkswagen Westfalia camper and travel around Mexico for a few months, as my husband and I did in the mid-1970's. 

Instead, we want to travel efficiently, affordably, safely and comfortably, while exploring new areas of the world.  At the same time, we want the freedom to try new things and explore interesting places on our own.  Is it possible to do both?

Independent Travel vs. Guided Vacations

Like most Baby Boomers, the majority of the trips my husband and I have taken involved independent travel.  In addition to our lengthy trip to Mexico, we have gone on road trips through every state in the continental United States and several provinces of Canada.  We have also visited several countries in the Caribbean and Europe and enjoyed a number of trips to Hawaii.  During most of those trips, we simply booked our own travel arrangements and hotels, and wandered around our destination.  Once, we spent a week in Paris casually strolling the boulevards, visiting sidewalk cafes, majestic cathedrals, and breathtaking museums.  We have done for shorter period of time England, Switzerland, Germany and all the other states and countries we visited.

However, we have also taken two guided vacations, which is simply the new, modern term for group tours.  The first was a employer sponsored trip to Banff, Canada.  We loved having everything organized for us with very little effort on our part, but we didn't take another guided vacation for years. 

In our late 50's, we signed up for a Princess Land Tour of Alaska, prior to a Princess Cruise.  It was an absolute delight.  All our travel plans, hotels, transportation, etc., were taken care of.  We put our luggage outside our hotel door early each morning, and it was whisked away before we had breakfast.  When we arrived at the next hotel, our luggage was waiting in our room.  It was so wonderful not to have to carry it around!  We could order whatever we wanted off the menu in the Princess Lodges where we stayed.  

We were a bit worried that we would be forced to spend every minute with the group, but that didn't happen at all.  At Mt. McKinley (Denali), my husband spent the day riding in a school bus through a national forest looking for bears and other wildlife, while I attended a Ranger lecture, and relaxed at the resort.  The next day, we went together into the little town of Talkeetna and took a float trip down the river.  Look at the picture above.  That's me in the blue hat; my husband is to the left.  No one else from our tour group went into Talkeetna.  They spent the day doing other things.  We all saw each other that evening at dinner, and shared our various experiences.

That was not the only day we spent doing our own thing during the tour.  We strolled around Anchorage and Fairbanks on our own, and in other locations we had a choice of several activities.  We never felt rushed, stressed or bored.  It was nice to be able to do whatever we wanted, without having to worry about the mundane things like luggage, hotels and transportation.  According to an article in the AAA Westways Magazine, June 2012, guided vacations are the new trend in tour groups.  The tour operators take you to the various areas, and suggest a variety of activities.  However, you have the freedom to choose what you want to do.  In my opinion, this will be the preferred way to travel as we get older.

Worried About Bed Bugs?

As we plan other trips around the United States, one of our daughters recently told us about the Bed Bug Registry!  I promised I would mention it in any travel articles I write.  If you are making hotel reservations anywhere in the United States, you can go to bedbugregistry.com and see if there have been complaints about bed bugs at that hotel.  Anyone who has stayed at a hotel and had a problem with bed bugs is invited to leave a comment at the registry.  Hopefully, this will force hotels to deal with the problem, and protect all of us from accidentally stumbling into a hotel that has a serious problem.

Happy traveling!

If you are interested in learning more about travel issues, where to retire in the United States or overseas, financial planning, medical issues and changing family relationships, use the tabs or pull down menu at the top of this page to find links to hundreds of additional articles.

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Photo from the author's personal collection.

Frightening Facts About Retirement

Are you planning a picture perfect retirement?  Do you dream of spending your Golden Years with paint brush, fishing pole or golf clubs in hand?  Although undoubtedly the day will come when you will have to stop working, whether you want to or not, your financial well-being may not be as comfortable as you had hoped.

According to Yahoo!Finance, in an article from U.S.News entitled "8 Scary Retirement Facts," the 2007 decline in the economy caused havoc for the retirement plans of substantial numbers of aging Baby Boomers.  Sadly enough, their financial problems may be even more severe because our life expectancy continues to climb, even as their savings dwindle.

Scary Facts About Retirement for the Baby Boomer Generation

Here are a few facts from the U.S.News article that you may want to consider as you work on your retirement nest egg:

1.  Today, one in six senior citizens is living below the poverty line, which is $22,350 for a family of four, and even less for a single person.

2.  Currently, there is one working age adult between the ages of 15 and 64 for every five senior citizens.  By 2050, the ratio will change to one working age adult for every three seniors.  There will be fewer working people to support us, and we will be living longer than ever!

3.  The number of senior citizens will more than double from 40 million to 89 million by 2050.  This will put a huge strain on the economy.

4.  Right now, the median cost of an assisted living facility is $3,300 a month.  In California, where I live, I have read estimates of $6,000 a month.  In Alaska, it is $6,813 a month.  Today, assisted living is not affordable for people who are living solely on Social Security.  This will become an even greater problem as we Baby Boomers age.  While Medicaid is often the payer of this expense for many low and moderate income retirees, this is one more burden that will be placed on the government and working adults.  Those who do not qualify for Medicaid will have to pay these costs out-of-pocket.

5.  The economic losses of a few years has already taken a toll on people who are age 55 and older.  This age group accounts for approximately 20% of all bankruptcies, often because of medical expenses.  Surprisingly, older Americans also have more credit card debt than younger adults.

6.  Baby Boomers will need to have more savings in the future than ever, just to survive during their retirement years.  For many people, their lack of savings will mean they will need to work much later in life than they had planned.  This will not be easy for the numerous Baby Boomers who lost their jobs during the recession, often forcing them to take their Social Security benefits earlier than they had planned.

7.  While some Baby Boomers do know that we need to save more, it appears that the message is not getting through to many Americans.  According to a 2009 Career Builder survey, over one-third of Americans admitted that they do not contribute to retirement accounts.

8.  Age discrimination continues to make it hard for senior citizens to find and keep jobs.

All this information may seem discouraging.  However, it is meant to be more of a warning to those who want to make sure they have done everything possible to prepare for their retirement.  Preparing for retirement certainly brings to mind the old saying, "Hope for the best and prepare for the worst!"  The better prepared we are, the more likely we will manage to have a comfortable retirement when the time comes.

If you are looking for information about financial planning, where to retire, medical concerns and changing family relationships, use the tabs or pull down menu at the top of this article to find links to hundreds of additional articles.

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