Category Archives for Retirement

Benefits of Preplanning and Prepaying Your Funeral

 Published October 19, 2012, Pawtucket Times          

            For the past six months, City registrar Kenneth McGill juggled his increased work load preparing for the September primary and upcoming Presidential elections while taking on the role of caregiver to his elder parents.  Dividing his time between his ailing father who was afflicted with lung cancer and a blood clot in his heart, and his frail mother who has COPD, this new role added up to countless hours per day,  taking care of both parents who were recently placed in nursing facilities.   

             With the passing of his 76-year-old father just a little over a week ago, McGill, age 51, who had never planned a funeral, was now forced into an uncomfortable role of making final arrangements.  “Dad had been seriously ill for the past 6 months, and we knew what he wanted but it was never put down in writing,” noted the aging baby boomer, who acknowledged the stress of attempting to balance the cost of the funeral while ensuring that his father’s wishes were being carried out.

             Like many, McGill and his 48-year-old wife Kristen, an employee of Memorial Hospital of Pawtucket, had never made pre-paid funeral plans for their parents.  While he had heard about pre-need funeral agreements, he just never thought about doing it “probably because of denial,” he said.  “You just never think your parents are going to die.”  

             As a result of his father’s recent death, McGill will go next week to Cheetham Funeral Home to now preplan his mother’s funeral.  “This makes a lot of sense because it will ultimately take the stress off my family,” he says.

 Preplanning a Parent’s Funeral

             While my background is in the field of aging, I will admit that I also found it stressful attempting to get my elderly parents to enter pre-need funeral arrangements.  After all, my three siblings and I were only trying to give our parents the opportunity to have a say in the minute details of their final arrangements.

             For years my elderly father took care of my mother with dementia – and after numerous conversations with him about the “what if’s…”, more importantly what if mother outlives him… the day finally came that my father was willing to visit the local Dallas funeral home.   With my confused mother at his side, my father, chose their caskets like he was purchasing a new car. He checked under the lid, thoroughly examined the lining and the wood, trying to make the best decision.    Ultimately, he would not buy the cheaper model, but chose the ‘nicer one’, a littler higher up on the price list.

            Of course, my father instructed the funeral director where their services should be held and who should be presiding over the ceremony. But what type of music, vocal, or instrumental did they want played?  Or would they like a visitation service or would they like to name their pallbearers?  All good questions asked by the director that all needed answers.   These decisions might have been made right then and there on the spot, without the added stress of a loved ones’ death setting the tone, but rather ‘pre-planned’ with careful thought.  But in the end, and unfortunately for us, my father backed out. 

            My father’s experience was not the norm because most aging baby boomers make it through the stressful process of pre-planning and prepaying in advance.

Transient Society Creates Need for Preplanning Funerals

            Ted Wynne, whose family has owned the Pawtucket-based Manning Heffern Funeral Home since 1868, sees a transient society where children are living in different states, fueling the demand for preplanning and prepayment.  “Parents want to take the pressure off their children who live thousands of miles away from making the burial arrangement,” Wynne says.  “Thus, they pay up front or set aside money for future funeral and burial payments”.

            With an aging population, one or both spouses will end up in a nursing or assisted living facility, noted Wynne, a fifth generation funeral director.  Initially, the social worker will educate the prospective residents to the importance of getting an “irrevocable trust contract”, to pay for the funeral in advance.  .

            “It is pretty black and white,” adds Wynne.  “You figure out what you want, the cost, and then determine what you want to put in the contract.” For others, it may take sitting down with the funeral director to help crystallize their funeral plans, he adds. 

Prepaying a Funeral at Today’s Prices

           Bradford Bellows, Funeral director of Bellows Chapel in Lincoln, agrees with Wynne that seniors in nursing facilities are also good candidates for prepaying a funeral.

         “The family watches their parents’ funds dwindle to a point where they are forced to go on Medicaid.”  Prior to being eligible for Medicaid, the older parent or their children should prepay the funeral costs.  Assets given to the funeral home are allowed to be given under Medicaid eligibility guidelines prior to going on Medicaid.

            “Consumers must understand that prearranging a funeral is not the same as prepaying for one,” Bellows adds, whose family has been in the funeral business in the BlackstoneValley for 191 years.

            “By pre-paying a funeral you are actually paying for a funeral at today’s prices, not tomorrow’s”, Bellow says.  “If the funeral occurs in the future, the funds will earn interest which will be used to pay for the cost of the funeral at the time of death.”

            Bellows, a funeral director for 40 years, offers these tips when pre-paying your funeral:

            First, make sure that your Social Security number is indicated on our savings account or insurance policy where the monies are placed to prepay your funeral.  If the funeral home ever goes out of business or goes bankrupt, the funds are still yours and are safe, and can easily be transferred to another funeral home.

            Second, when you enroll in the Medicaid program, all the funds in your prepayment account must be used. Any excess funds will be returned by the funeral home the State of Rhode Island, to defray health costs incurred by the OceanState’s Medicaid program.

            Finally, once the funeral home opens the account or insurance policy, don’t forget to get a copy of the Irrevocable Funeral Trust Agreement, showing the bank or credit union account number or the original insurance policy that was issued.  This will give you proof that your advance payment has been set up for your funeral needs..

Make an Educated Decision

            Life Insurance agent Christine Miller, a preplanning funding specialist at Pawtucket-based Lachapelle Funeral Home and a grief counselor at Beacon Hospice, notes that preplanning and prepayment for a funeral can reduce family stress. “Knowing your loved ones final wishes and not having the financial burden of a funeral can provide relief during a very difficult time, she added.

            According to Miller, it is not uncommon to have individuals to call weekly to preplan their funerals. “Many people are surprised that at Lachapelle Funeral Home they can make small monthly payments rather than one lump sum and still have their funeral guaranteed,” she noted.

            Miller stresses the importance of doing your home work in determining which prepayment option is best for you. “There use to be a loyalty to funeral homes but in these times people should shop around, talk to people with the goal of making an educated decision.”

            For consumer tips on planning and prepaying a funeral, go to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro19.shtm.

            Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based freelance writer who covers aging, health care and medical issues.  He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.

Financially Surviving Your Retirement Years

            Published August 10, 2012, Pawtucket Times

             Moving into their mid-fifties and sixty’s a growing number of Baby boomers wonder if Social Security benefits in their retirement year’s will even pay the bills.  Will they be able to survive in their “golden years”? 

             Federal officials say that there may be cause for alarm. 

             At the end of April, the released 242 page Social Security Trustee’s report, picked up by the nation’s media, gave bleak but “advanced” warning to future retirees that the Social Security program can pay full benefits until 2033, however, warning that probably only three-quarters of promised benefits could be paid out beyond that time.

             So it is not so surprising that the Associated Press (AP), a media cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio, and televisions in the United States, announced last week that the news agency will publish a four part series, to be released over four Sundays in August, examining the long-term financial viability of the nation’s Social Security program.  The series plans to also take a look at policy proposals that will be debated during the upcoming election by Presidential and Congressional candidates, that might strengthen, the nation’s primary retirement program.

             AP recognized that Social Security, a very politically-charged issue, is a topic that must be discussed meaningfully in the upcoming November election.  Because of this AP has chosen to bring substantive coverage of this important policy issue to the upcoming political debates that will take place in the upcoming months.

             “Few things affect more Americans than the future of Social Security, and yet it’s an issue most invisible during the current campaign, said AP Washington Bureau Chief Sally Buzbee, who is directing the series.  “This series of stories tires to lay out complex issues in the most accessible way possible.  This is part of the ongoing efforts by The Associated Press this fall to make sure issues [like Social Security] aren’t absent from the campaign, but front and center…”states Buzbee.

             The headline of AP’s first report, published story on the upper fold of the August 6 issue of the Pawtucket Times, warn’s that “Social Security not deal it once was.”  The AP wire story notes that today’s retirees will be the first to have paid more in Social Security taxes during their lifetime careers than they will ultimately receive in retirement benefits once they retire.  Previous retirees paid less payroll taxes but got more benefits.

   Planning Key to Adequate Retirement Funds

             If Social Security bennies are chopped taking personal responsibility in planning your retirement may well become your financial safety net in your later years.

             Economic woes fueled by the worst economic downturn since America’s Great Depression, have left many Baby boomers financially struggling to make ends meet and to save adequately for their retirement years, according to survey findings released in July 23, 2012 by the Consumer Federation of America (CFP) and the Financial Planner Board of Standards.

              According to a 60-page report, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI), nearly two-fifths (38%) of the 1,508 household financial decision-makers surveyed said they live paycheck to paycheck, while less than one-third (30%) indicated they felt comfortable financially and only about one-third (34%) think they can afford to retire by age 65.

             Survey findings indicated that only 31 percent of respondents said they had a comprehensive financial plan, while about two-thirds (65%) indicated they follow a plan for at least one of their savings goals.  Those who have prepared a personal savings plan feel more confident and report more success managing money, savings and investments than those who don’t.

             By a margin of 50 percent to 32 percent, and for all but the lowest income bracket (under $25,000) where few have a comprehensive plan, those planning for retirement are more likely to feel they are on pace to meet all of their financial goals, such as saving for retirement or for emergencies, stated the survey findings.

             Additionally, an even larger margin of 52 percent to 30 percent, and across all income brackets, those planning for their retirement years are more likely to feel “very confident” about managing money, savings and investments;

             Kevin R. Keller, CEO of CFP Board: “Consumers understandably are more nervous about investing their money given recent revelations about financial fraud, manipulation and abuse of clients. This doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t create a financial plan and be prepared.

   Taking Personal Action NOW

             Unless strong political pressure is placed on Congress to act swiftly to enact needed policy changes to fix the nation’s ailing Social Security program, expect political gridlock to continue to block any efforts in both Chambers to come up with bipartisan solutions.   

             Don’t get caught up in the political spins and negative rhetoric as Presidential and Congressional candidates begin their debates on Social Security before the upcoming September primaries and November election.  Become an educated voter and tell the Congressional candidates who seek your vote to seek bipartisan solutions to making the  Social Security Trust fund solvent once and for all. 

             Watch out for AP’s upcoming reports on Social Security to learn more about this important policy issue.  That’s a good first step.  Second, learn more about AARP’s  “You’ve Earned a Say’ initiative (www.earnedasay.org), a web site that can provide aging baby boomers with both factual and straightforward information about retirement policies being debated inside the Beltway by Congress, ones that hopefully will financially strengthen the nation’s Social Security program. 

             But on a personal level, until federal lawmakers get serious about financially shoring up the nation’s retirement program, developing a personal financial plan may well become an effective short-term solution to managing your money, savings and investments that could well supplement a shrinking Social Security check.  One useful tool is the website LetsMakeaPlan.org, allows a person to learn more about preparing a financial plan, including working with a financial planning professionals.

             Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based freelance writer who covers aging, health care and medical issues.  He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com

The Best of…Keeping Your Memory Sharp in Your Later Years

Published October 2008, Pawtucket Times  

          In her twenties, while attending nursing school, Donna Policastro discovered she had a photographic memory.  Years later, even in her middle years, theProvidenceresident’s memory was still pretty good.  She had no need for appointment books or PDA’s to keep up with her hurried work schedule as a Registered Nurse.  Like an elephant, she never forgot, always remembering minute details, never missing an appointment or meeting.

             Approaching age 50, missing meetings and even some appointments forced Policastro, Executive Director of the Rhode Island State Nurses Association (RISNA), to keep a To-Do list and to use her computer’s calendar program. Policastro, now age 59, speculates that being overwhelmed at work because she had no support staff combined with not being able to say no to taking on new duties and responsibilities took a toll on her memory,

            Sometimes the aging baby boomer, like many,  would forget a colleague or patient’s name all together, or just not remember either their first or last moniker.  She became physically exhausted trying to remember their full name or little details of their initial meeting.  Sometimes it even bothered Policastro “to no end” when she could not remember an actor’s name she saw on a television program, becoming obsessed in an attempting to remember the name.

          As Policastro would ultimately discover when reading Aging With Grace, a book that described a longitudinal health study of an order of nuns, she was not losing her mind or becoming afflicted with dementia or devastating Alzheimer’s, her memory loss was due to normal aging. 

 Memory Gradually Declines with Age

           Laurence M. Hirshberg, Ph.D., Director of the Providence-based Neuro Development Center, would agree with Polacastro’s self-assessment of why her memory was not as sharp or clear as in her earlier years.  “Advancing age seems to cause gradual declines in some aspects of memory and thinking, brain structure, and brain functioning, while sparing others,” he says. 

            The Clinical Psychologist notes that research findings indicate that up to half of people over age 50 have mild forgetfulness linked to age-associated memory impairment,

           According to Dr. Hirshberg, who serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown Medical School, as a person ages, there is often decline in one’s ability to encode new memories of events or facts, as well as the ability to hold the information you need to perform a simple task (for example, to dial a telephone number).  “Studies also show declines in memory of events, times, places, associated emotions., certain forms of reasoning, and numeric and verbal ability.  Procedural memory – remembering how to perform a process, for example playing the piano, is less affected by aging, as is memory of words and memory of emotional experience, both of which are enhanced with age,” Hirshberg says.

           “All of us show some forgetfulness at times, notes Dr. Hirshberg, especially when we forget where the car is parked, forget a persons name (but remember it later), forget events from the distant past, or forget parts of an experience.   He notes that signs of more serious memory problems include forgetting an experience or recent events, forgetting how to drive a car or read a clock, forgetting ever having known a particular person or loss of function, confusion or decreased alertness.

           Memory loss can be caused by a variety of factors, Dr. Hirshberg says, from lack of physical or mental activity, boredom, social isolation, stress, drug or alcohol use, smoking, poor nutrition, to an array of medical conditions that includes sleep disorders, head trauma, depression, diabetes, impairment to vision and hearing, head trauma, and even high blood pressure and cholesterol..

Living with Memory Loss

           Preventing memory loss in your later years can be as simple as staying socially active, keep learning and staying mentally active, eating nutritious meals, reducing stress and seeking help from medical conditions, Dr. Hirshberg suggested,  “Making lists and creating schedules can be effective strategies to increase memory skills. Many people use technological aids such as Palm Pilots.”  

            Even brain exercises can be helpful in keeping your memory sharp, Hirshberg says, specifically working cross word puzzles and soduko, playing chess, checkers, bridge and other card games. Reading, attending lectures, learning a new skill are also beneficial, along with using formal brain exercise programs for the computer (such a Mental Fitness, Brain Power, Captains Log, and Sharper Brain). Some examples of computerized brain exercise games can be seen at youcanstaysharp.com.

          Many aging baby boomers wonder when is the appropriate time to see their physician about memory loss.  Dr. Hirshberg says the rule of thumb that clinicians often use is, if you’re worried about your memory, it’s probably not that serious, but if your friends and relatives are worried about it, then it probably is more serious. . 

           Final note…You can also take part in a comprehensive mental fitness training program through the Stay Sharp Mental Fitness Center. This center offers brain fitness training exercise and EEG guided brain training to train your brain younger. For more information, visit youcanstaysharp.com or call 401 383 4104.

           Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based Freelance writing who has covered aging, health care and medical issues.  This article was published in October 2008.  Contact him at hweissri@aol.com .