Author Archives for Herb Weiss

Wolpaw’s the Reel Deal

Published in Senior Digest on September 2015

When planning the 2nd Annual S.A.M. Fest, in conjunction with the Pawtucket Arts Festival, Slater Mill’s Executive Director, Lori Urso scheduled a showing of Jim Wolpaw’s “Complex World.” Urso, also a professional musician, knew featuring the film at her event last month was a great way to promote a local Providence filmmaker and give homage to The Young Adults, a popular rock band playing at the nonprofit’s weekend festival.

 Rediscovering a Classic Film at S.A.M. Fest

On Aug. 30, more than 80 people gathered early evening under the large white tent at Hodgson Rotary Park to watch on a big outdoor screen the 81-minute offbeat cult rock ‘n’ roll comedy filmed at Providence’s Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel. While the film attracted the curious, many adoring fans of The Young Adults came to check out the flick, too, says Urso.

The story captures one night at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, with its zany plot involving terrorists, political conspiracy, 100 pounds of explosives in the bar’s basement and drugs, with music from iconic Providence bands such as the Young Adults, NRBQ and Roomful of Blues. The “Complex World’ had a two-month run in a Boston and one week in New York City, and it garnered good reviews. However, a distribution deal with Hemdale, a major film distributor that released “The Terminator” and the “Last Emperor,” fell through, ending up in a lawsuit. Even though Wolpaw won his case and a small settlement, the legal suit sealed the fate of the film. The filmmaker’s DVDs are sold on a website, and the last public showing was in 2010, for two days at the Cable Car in Providence to raise money for a charity.

Urso, 51, remembered being an extra during the 1987 film shoot, “a biker chick hanging out in the bar’s parking lot” at 79 Washington St.  “Quite a few people that I knew showed up to be extras that night. I’m glad I was able to be part of it,” she said.

Rudy Cheeks one of the founders of Young Adults and co-writer of the Phillip & Jorge column published in “Motiff Magazine,” was in attendance during the S.A.M. Fest screening, and he observed people of all ages in attendance, many of whom watched the film for the first time.

Even though the film was produced about 25 years ago, “it’s held up pretty well over the years,” says Cheeks. “The strongest part of the film was its ‘mise en scène,’ the capturing of the inside atmosphere of the bar.”

 The Making of a Classic Film

While it took about two-and-a-half months to shoot the film in 1987, it took more than two years to bring “Complex World” to the screen of the Cable Car Theatre in 1990, says Wolpaw, noting that it ran for a record four months. The veteran filmmaker, who was nominated for an Academy Award for a 1985 documentary, was brought into this film project by Rich Lupo, the owner of Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, who just happened to be his roommate at Brown University and later a bartender and manager at the Providence bar.

According to Wolpaw, the efforts to create and fund a film began a year before the bar was going to be torn down to make way for condos. The film was to use Lupo’s as a basis for the movie to “explain the spirit of the bar,” he said, noting that it would be shot like a documentary film.

Lupo invested the most to produce the film, but with increased costs, other friends chipped in, said Wolpaw. The unique film stood out among films that were produced in Hollywood, he said, “noting it was not the typical movie.”

Two years of editing and reshoots would later result in the final film, says Wolpaw, noting that over the years and even at the Slater Mill screening he “had trouble watching it.” Shooting the film like a documentary just did not work for the plot, he said, but it captured an early era of the Providence music scene.

Even after more than two decades since being released, orders for “Complex World” keep trickling in, says Wolpaw, who has worked as an adjunct film professor at Emerson College in Boston, the University of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island School of Design. He is pleasantly surprised that orders come in from such faraway places as British Columbia and France.

 A Prolific Filmmaker  

Besides his Classic “Complex World,” Wolpaw is known for innovative approaches in considering artists and issues in the arts, and he has an impressive number of films under his belt:  “Cobra Snake for a Necktie” (Showtime 1980), a portrait of rock ‘n’ roll legend Bo Diddley; “Loaded Gun: Life, and Death, and Dickinson” (PBS 2003, INPUT 2004), a quirky look at poet Emily Dickinson that was chosen by “The Library Journal” for its list of Best Poetry Films; and “First Face: The Buck Starts Here” (PBS 2011), an accounting of the dollar bill portrait of George Washington

Even at 60, Wolpaw, who has won awards at more than a dozen film festivals worldwide, has not slowed down. He is still working on three projects, a film about Cleveland poet and activist Daniel Thomson, one detailing the history of Rhode Island’s Ladd Center and a fictional narrative film about poet Dickinson. Hopefully, they will have a long shelf life and audience like “Complex World.”

“Complex Word” can capture viewers who wish to relive their experiences at Lupo’s, and purchases of the DVD benefit the Gloria Gemma Foundation and Advocates in Action. For details, go to www.complexworldthemovie.com.

Quality of Life Amenities Make Providence a Great Retirement Mecca

Published in Woonsocket Call on August 30, 2015

Today’s retirement age is not set in stone at 65 years old for aging baby boomers, the milestone age where their parents and grandparents retired from the workforce.  Retirement Confidence Studies are finding that retiring in your mid-sixties is not a sure bet for many. According to WalletHub, a leading personal finance website, one such study, the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2014 Retirement Confidence Survey, found that  23 percent of workers expected to retire at age 65, but only 11 percent actually were able to.

The latest EBRI survey, released last April, said that many respondents blamed the nation’s poor economy for the continuing need to work in their later years. Others pointed to “inadequate finances” as another key reason for not retiring.  For 51 percent of workers and 31 percent of retirees, their accumulated debt kept them at their jobs.

WalletHub adds, the Report on the Economic Well-being of US Households in 2014 prepared by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, says that 24 percent of the survey respondents are not at all confident at having enough money to finance a comfortable retirement.  The government report also noted that 50 percent cited cost of living and daily expenses as obstacles for putting money into their retirement egg nest.

WalletHub calls for a strategy to slide into a more comfortable retirement for those whose nest egg is small, just relocate to a City to “stretch your dollar without sacrificing your lifestyle.”Sars by Relocation

WalletHub decided to pinpoint the most cost efficient and retirement-friendly places in the country because of the research studies indicating that feelings of financial insecurity have an impact on how retirees make decisions to save for retirement, says WalletHub Spokesperson, Jill Gonzalez.

For the second year in a row, WalletHub, conducted an in-depth analysis of the Best and Worst Cities to Retire.  Like last year, the financial website compared the affordability, quality of life, health care and availability of recreational activities in the 150 largest U.S. cities.  The compiled data included 24 metrics, ranging from the cost of living to public hospital rankings to the percentage of the population aged 65 and older.

“Our methodology makes the difference. It’s extremely well-researched and the metrics are developed in conjunction with academic experts that span several fields,” says Gonzalez.res

WalletHub’s 2015 Best and Worst Cities to Retire ranks Rhode Island’s Capitol City almost dead last as the worst place to retire. But, the City of Providence did place better than two of his cities, Jersey City and New Jersey.  

Some of the metrics compiled from this survey include: Adjusted Cost of Living (122); Annual Cost of In-Home Services (140); Elderly Friendly Labor Market (80); Number of Adult Volunteer Activities per Capita (23); Percent of the Population Aged 65 and Older (132); Emotional health (144); Violent Crime Rate (78); and number of Home Care Facilities per capita (129).

Gonzalez noted that like 2014, in this years’ survey WalletHub compared the retirement-friendliness of the 150 most populated largest U.S. Cities (excluding the surrounding metro areas) across four key dimensions: Affordability; Activities; Quality of Life; and health Care.  Twenty four relevant metrics were complied, ranging from the cost of living to the percentage of the elderly population to the availability of recreational activities.

“Every year we strive to improve our methodology by taking into account consumer feedback and industry trends,” adds Gonzalez.

It’s no surprise that when a financial web site publishes rankings, older industrial cities in the Northeast are at a disadvantage,” said AARP Rhode Island State Director Kathleen Connell.

“Some of the indicators where Providence comes up short are discouraging. However, many of the city’s greatest attributes – its arts and culture environment, community esources associated with world-class institutes of higher learning, proximity to Narragansett Bay and convenient travel distances to Boston and New York are but a few of the reasons people stay after retirement.

“There should be no confusing Providence with the state as a whole as a retirement choice. Granted, Rhode Island is more expensive than the sunbelt and in states where the housing market collapse has resulted in more affordable housing alternatives. And energy costs will always be higher in our region. That said, many downsizing retirees who value quality of life find a way to make it work. Others can’t, and we need to find ways to make retiring here more affordable. Eliminating the state tax on Social Security benefits was a step in the right direction, albeit in real dollars not a game changer for many retirees with limited resources. Affordable senior housing is a big issue and one of those challenges that requires urgent attention,” Connell added.

“The WalletHub analysis is useful insofar as it raises awareness and compels people to think more about retirement – and that includes both retirees as well as policymakers.”

“Although the WalletHub’s study is well conducted and well-respected in the financial sector, you have to look deeper into each of the categories when it comes to Providence,” says Edward M. Mazze, Distinguished University Professor of Business Administration, at the University of Rhode Island.  “There are some unique factors that make Providence a better place to retire than one would guess from the survey,” he adds.

Mazze explains that economists who list, through national surveys, the best retirement places generally emphasize three criteria, specifically the cost of living, income, property and sales taxes and state/inheritance taxes. “When considering only these criteria, Providence and most cities will not rank high,” he says.

According to Rhode Island’s widely acclaimed economist, the state has made significant improvements in changing the income tax rates, raising the bottom on estate taxes and removing some social security benefits from state taxes which makes Providence a “great place to retire from a quality of life standpoint.”

For those retirees who want to live in a city that has four seasons, is strategically located near other major cities like Boston and New York, and want an active life-style, Providence meets the criteria,” he says.

Providence’s downtown area is also a site of parades, festivals and celebrations, says Mazze, adding that after enjoying these activities, retirees can dine at world-class restaurants.  You might also add to your list the close access to over 100 beaches and 400 miles of coastline, bike and nature trails and historic sites.

While WalletHub’s survey may not show Providence as a top place to retire, the quality of life factors would ratchet up Providence into a higher rating.

Is it Really a Happy Birthday for Social Security?

Published in Woonsocket Call on August 23, 2015

With the stroke of his pen, over 80 years ago, on August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.  Over the last eight decades, this domestic program has become one of the most popular federal programs, paying $848 billion to 59 million beneficiaries at the end of calendar year 2014.  During that year, an estimated 166 million people had earnings covered by Social Security and paid taxes.

Celebrating the 80th birthday of Social Security over two weeks ago, AARP released the results of its anniversary survey.  The August 2015 survey followed earlier surveys conducted during previous milestone anniversaries in 1995 (60th), 2005 (70th) and 2010 (75th).  The latest 29 page report found that Americans of all ages continue to have strong feelings of support for Social Security, and this latest survey found several key themes.

According to the national survey of adults detailed in “Social Security 80th Anniversary Survey Report: Public Opinion Trends,” Social Security remains a core part of retirement security, it also remains popular across the generations and political ideologies.

“As we celebrate Social Security on its 80th anniversary, our survey found that it remains as important as ever to American families,” said AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins. “We also found that although most want to continue living independently as we age, obstacles to saving often continue to occur in our lives. However, Social Security continues to help generation after generation to diminish these obstacles.”

“When it comes to how important Social Security is to Rhode Islanders, the numbers speak for themselves,” said AARP Rhode Island State Director Kathleen Connell. “210,975 is the number of Social Security beneficiaries in the state; 23.7% say that Social Security provides 90% or more of their total income. And about half say that Social Security represents 50% or more of their income. Without Social Security, many retirees would be living below the poverty line.

“It is plain to see that protecting this key earned benefit is critical. A recent AARP survey found 68% of respondents express at least some concern that they won’t have enough savings to last their lifetime. Imagine if they are given reason to worry more about the viability of Social Security. People who are working toward retirement need to make themselves heard and – as we approach the 2016 elections – hold politicians to their promises to protect Social Security.”

Social Security Key to Surviving Old Age

            Older American’s look to rely on their Social Security checks to pay bills, say the researchers.  Four in five adults (80%) rely or plan to rely on Social Security benefits in a substantial way.  Survey respondents (33%) say that Social Security is the source of income that they rely on or plan to rely on most during their retirement years.

The study finding’s reveal that Social Security has broad support, even across political ideologies and America’s generations, too.  Sixty six percent believe that this domestic program is one of the most important government programs when compared to others. This view has remained consistent over time in similar AARP anniversary surveys taken in 1995, 2005, and 2010.  According to the study, the vast majority of Americans (82%) also believe it’s important to contribute to Social Security for the “common good.”

Like aging baby boomer and seniors, even younger Americans value this program. Specifically, nine in ten adults under 30 (90%) believe Social Security is an important government program, and nearly nine in ten (85%) want to know it will be there for them when they retire.

The survey respondents also want to live independently in their communities at home. The findings indicate that four out of five adults (83%) consider it extremely important to have the ability to stay at home as long as they want; although 64% believe they won’t be able to do so as they age and become frail. Additionally, while 68% feel it extremely important to have family around, 80% want to be able to financially take care of themselves so their children and other relatives won’t have to support them financially.

While recognizing the importance of financial planning, survey respondents say they face a multitude of challenges that keep them from effectively putting away money for their retirement.  Specifically, 69% note that they must focus their income on current financial needs, while 47% believe they do not have enough money left over to put into their retirement savings after paying their monthly bills.  Survey respondents (39%) says health issues and family problems keep them from saving for retirement.

SS Trustee Report Gives Nation a Warning

The six member Social Security Board of Trustees issued its 2015 report, on July 22, giving the nation a snapshot of the fiscal health of the nation’s retirement and disability program.

Within the 257 page report, the Trustees gave a dire warning to Congress.  “Taken in combination, Social Security’s retirement and disability programs have dedicated resources sufficient to cover benefits for nearly two decades, until 2034.  However, the projected depletion date for the separate Social Security’s Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund is only a little more than one year away, in late 2016,” says the widely anticipated federal report.  “After the DI trust fund exhaustion, annual revenues from the program’s dedicated payroll and taxation of Social Security benefits will be sufficient to fund about three-quarters of scheduled benefits through 2089.”

According to the Social Security Administration, there were about 10.4 million Americans who received benefits from the DI Trust Fund in 2014, including roughly 42,429 in the Ocean State.  In order to qualify, these beneficiaries are required to have worked in a job covered by Social Security, and must have been unable to work for a year or more due to a disability. If Congress fails to act to direct more funding into the DI trust fund, disabled workers throughout the nation and in Rhode Island will be hit hard financially right in their wallets.

AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins offered her observation about the released Social Security Trustees report. “While the Trustees once again report that the combined Old Age, Survivor and Disability Insurance Trust can pay full retirement, survivor and disability benefits for approximately two more decades, we know that if no action is taken, benefits will be cut by nearly 25% in 2034.  As the campaign season gets underway, we will be urging all Presidential candidates to share their plans for the long term solvency and adequacy of Social Security.”

Democrats are calling for an easy fix to shoring up the DI Trust Fund, specifically shifting a small percentage of the Social Security payroll tax from the retirement fund to the disability trust fund.  This has occurred 11 times in the past with bipartisan support.  But, with the 2016 presidential elections now catching the attention of politicos, GOP Senators have threatened to block any transfer of funds, charging that following this strategy is just a way to push the political “hot potato” issue down the road.  Political observers say that this year’s Republican opposition to quickly fixing the DI Trust Fund is a way to force Democrats to the negotiation table to get concessions on higher Social Security payroll taxes or to cut program benefits.

Now, it’s time for Congress to pull together to fix the ailing Social Security program to ensure its future solvency and to adequate fund the DI Trust Fund.  Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle must stop their political bickering and craft a compromise to keep Social Security’s retirement and disability trust funds well-funded and up and running for years to come.  For the sake of older Americans who now rely on their meager Social Security benefits to survive, our elected federal elected officials must begin to act like Statesmen not simple-minded politicians.  Hopefully, the voters will push for this change in thinking when they go into the polls in 2016.