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As we get older, we sometimes begin to doubt our ability to "make a difference" in the world. It is at these times that our hopes are boosted by the remarkable achievements of other seniors who have found the courage to take on challenges that would make many of us wither. Many are inspirational to all of us seniors! Harold Schlumberg is such a Person.... QUOTE FROM HAROLD: "I've often been asked, 'What do you old folks do now that you're retired?' Well I stay active and happy I'm fortunate to have a chemical engineering background and one of the...

During a visit to my doctor, I asked him, "How do you determine whether or not an older person should be put in a Nursing Home?" "Well," he said, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the person to empty the bathtub." "Oh, I understand," I said. "A normal person would use the bucket because it is bigger than the spoon or the teacup." "No," he said. "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"

The newest addition to Yesway, industry veteran Derek Gaskins is part of a growing number of senior leaders who are switching from other convenience retailers or other industries. Count Derek Gaskins among the deepening pool of senior professionals who are finding new niches in the convenience store industry. As the new senior vice president of merchandising and procurement for BW Gas & Convenience, d/b/a Yesway, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, Gaskins acknowledges that he brings a wealth of experience and industry knowledge to the newly created role. He also reflects a growing number of senior leaders who are either transitioning...

-Dr. Richard Byrnes, Seattle, WA One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a wife that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family that the had died of a "massive internal fart." --Dr. Susan Steinberg, Manitoba, Canada I was performing a complete physical, including the visual acuity test. I placed the patient twenty feet from the chart and began, "Cover your right eye with your hand." He read the 20/20 line perfectly. Now your left." Again,...

For a rapidly growing share of older Americans, traditional ideas about life in retirement are being upended by a dismal reality: bankruptcy. The signs of potential trouble — vanishing pensions, soaring medical expenses, inadequate savings — have been building for years. Now, new research sheds light on the scope of the problem: The rate of people 65 and older filing for bankruptcy is three times what it was in 1991, the study found, and the same group accounts for a far greater share of all filers. Driving the surge, the study suggests, is a three-decade shift of financial risk from...

WACKEN, Germany - Two senior citizens disappeared from their rural retirement home in northern Germany Friday and were later found with thousands of headbangers at a heavy metal music festival in Wacken, according to news reports. The nursing home alerted police when staff discovered the elderly men missing from their home, in Dithmarscher, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Wells. It turns out the men were located early Saturday morning about 25 miles away, near Hamburg, at Wacken Open Air, a four-day festival billed as the largest heavy metal gathering in the world. The men were found “disoriented and dazed” around...

Social Security benefits can be claimed at any point after a recipient turns age 62, and most Americans take their Social Security as soon as they can. Claiming benefits early can be smart, but it can pay off to wait. If you're deciding when to start receiving Social Security, here's what to consider. Estimate your expenses Retirement usually means a big drop in income, and if you don't have a solid grasp on what your spending is going to look like in retirement, then you won't be able to make the best decision on when to claim. Depending on who...

Legislation that would dramatically increase an important contribution limit just cleared a major hurdle. The House of Representatives recently passed two pieces of legislation that would make significant changes to health savings accounts (HSAs), including a massive increase in the amount of tax-deferred contributions that could be made to them. These changes could not only allow Americans to get more of a tax deduction for their healthcare expenditures, but they could also help participants build their retirement nest eggs at a faster rate. Here's a rundown of what the new HSA contribution limit could be, why it matters for retirement...

114 out of the nation’s 1,400 multiemployer pension plans covering 1.3 million workers are underfunded to the tune of $36.4 billion, with plans expected to start going insolvent in the next 5 years or so, an Aug. 2017 analysis by Cheiron has found. This is the end result of unsustainable collective bargaining arrangements between unions and employer, creating defined benefit pension plans that promise retirements far in excess of what could be justified by monthly contributions and market returns. If these had been investment products, surely the Securities and Exchange Commission might have investigated for fraud. But because they were...

Soon after Ilana Benet retired from her job as a labor and delivery nurse, it hit her: She missed the babies. And her employer missed her. Ms. Benet, a registered nurse, had worked at Montefiore Health System in the Bronx for 40 years before retiring two years ago at age 60. As a grandmother of 10, Ms. Benet wanted to spend more time with her family. But she quickly realized — within weeks — that she wasn’t ready for full retirement. Montefiore was ready to welcome her back. The hospital system developed an informal program to rehire some retired nurses...

Ninety-three-year-old Ben Bender made a hole-in-one during his likely last round of golf. The event, played at Ohio’s Green Valley Golf Course, brought Bender's fath in God and his love of golf together, according to the Zanesville Times Recorder. Bender, a Zanesville, Ohio native, is in declining health — including hip bursitis — making playing the game difficult. "I'd come close to some hole-in-ones, but this one was level on the green before it curved towards the hole and went in," Bender told the newspaper. "I was in awe watching it. I played a few more holes, but my hips...

The nation’s largest non-profit advocate for people over 50 is praising the Trump Administration’s first steps to bring down the costs of prescription drugs. Leigh Purvis, Director of Health Service Research in the AARP Public Policy Institute said “American Patients First: The Trump Administration Blueprint to Lower Drug Prices and Reduce Out-of-Pocket Costs,” released May 11 by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), is a positive first step to controlling drug costs for everyone, but particularly the elderly. “This is clearly something that President Trump mentioned during the campaign that was something that was resonating with him....

GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED: 1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats. 2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair. 3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person. 4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato. 5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food. 6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair. 7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time. 8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a...

At this rate, retirement is more of a fantasy than a reality for many people in this country. About 42 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved for when they retire, according to a study by GoBankingRates released Tuesday.

Roberta Gordon never thought she’d still be alive at age 76. She definitely didn’t think she’d still be working. But every Saturday, she goes down to the local grocery store and hands out samples, earning $50 a day, because she needs the money. “I’m a working woman again,” she told me, in the common room of the senior apartment complex where she now lives, here in California’s Inland Empire. Gordon has worked dozens of odd jobs throughout her life—as a house cleaner, a home health aide, a telemarketer, a librarian, a fundraiser—but at many times in her life, she didn’t...

CORONA, Calif.—Roberta Gordon never thought she’d still be alive at age 76. She definitely didn’t think she’d still be working. But every Saturday, she goes down to the local grocery store and hands out samples, earning $50 a day, because she needs the money. “I’m a working woman again,” she told me, in the common room of the senior apartment complex where she now lives, here in California’s Inland Empire. Gordon has worked dozens of odd jobs throughout her life—as a house cleaner, a home health aide, a telemarketer, a librarian, a fundraiser—but at many times in her life, she...

Last week, Congress passed an outline of the 2019 budget. This week, President Trump rolled out his own budget plan, which would fill in some of the spending details. While most proposals in President Trump’s newly released 2019 budget are unlikely to become law, the fiscal framework does show the White House’s priorities for government over the coming year. And those apparently don’t include support for older adults, younger people with disabilities, or their families. For example, the Trump budget would: * Restructure the Medicare drug benefit to reduce costs for some beneficiaries but raise them for others. * Reduce...

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The “workamper” jobs range from helping harvest sugar beets to flipping burgers at baseball spring training games to Amazon’s AMZN, +2.87% “CamperForce,” seasonal employees who can walk the equivalent of 15 miles a day during Christmas season pulling items off warehouse shelves and then returning to frigid campgrounds at night. Living on less than $1,000 a month, in certain cases, some have no hot showers. As Bruder writes, these are “people who never imagined being nomads.” Many saw their savings wiped out during the Great Recession or were foreclosure victims and, writes Bruder, “felt they’d spent too long losing a...