A Conversation Starter

This month (the period between Mother's and Father's Days) is National Family Month, the perfect time to protect your family's future and discuss last will and trust plans.

Estate planning is often the most avoided topic between parents and their children. It's understandably a sensitive subject, but an awkward conversation now will save a lot of stress, confusion and even money in the future.

LegalZoom.com (an online legal document and filing service) recently conducted an online survey on Boomers and their participation in their parents’ last will and trust planning. The survey revealed that Boomers assume that another family member – either the oldest sibling or the sibling geographically closest to their parents – is discussing their parents’ last will and trust planning.

So you’re not the oldest or the closest sibling? Here are some tips to get the conversation started:

• Involve others in the process. Consider meeting with your siblings to discuss goals for a meeting with your parents.
• Make a checklist. Create a list of the topics you’d like to discuss. You can use the list as a starting point and to guide your conversation.
• Keep it casual. Relax and be yourself. Ask about your parents’ health and well-being or relate a current event or family health matter that ties into the topic.
• No need to rush. Don’t feel the need to cover everything in one discussion – it may take a few conversations to cover all the topics.

We all know this is one of the most avoided topics, but if your parents have a house or simply a family heirloom that they would like passed on to a specific person, that is considered an “estate” and it needs to be protected.

This post was provided by LegalZoom.com.

Help With Hoarding

I just checked out a Website that is new to me, the Gilbert Guide, which is dedicated to helping caregivers in the search for senior housing. What I found interesting was in their resource area, they have a number of articles on hoarding, what it is, when to intervene, etc.

Hoarding 101 discusses what causes hoarding and how prevalent it is, and profiles typical hoarders and what they usually collect.

We have hoarding in our family, and I'm finding that a lot of other families are in the same boat. It can be difficult to understand, and really tricky to deal with. In our family, one helpful member removes things from the hoarder's home under false pretenses (ie: "we're having a yard sale and these things would be great..."). Perhaps this is an issue for the New York Times' Randy Cohen, otherwise known as The Ethicist.

Long-Distance Love

Long-distance caregiving often starts with a phone call. A trusted friend or neighbor of your mom, dad or other elder relative phones because something has gone wrong: your loved one has fallen, isn't picking up their mail or newspapers, or hasn't been seen outside their house for days.

As you book your flight, you realize you've moved into new territory; you're now a long-distance caregiver. One of your first steps is to identify what kind of care might be needed:

• Help with chores, laundry, yardwork, or house maintenance
• Help with grocery shopping
• Meals delivered at home, or prepared at home, with clean-up included
• Personal care, such as with bathing or dressing
• Transportation for socialization, such as to friends, groups or church events

This is just part of a practical list of possible caregiving needs found in the Handbook for Long-Distance Caregivers, available from the Family Caregiving Alliance.

"Whether you live an hour away or across the country, this booklet offers a roadmap for those new to the challenges of caring from afar for ill or elderly loved ones," according to the FCA Website. Included: how to assess your care situation; develop a care team; hold a family meeting; access community organizations and private agencies; and balance work and caregiving.

FCA, whose information is also available in Spanish and Chinese, has a wealth of resources to help today's caregiver, including factsheets, newsletters, advice, and information.

Emergency Preparedness: A Checklist for Seniors

DC's new emergency preparedness Web site includes a handy checklist for seniors and disabled people. Even if you don't live in our nation's capitol, you might check it out for ideas. It applies to any type of emergency, including inclement weather and other natural disasters.

Caregiver Checklist

LifeCare Resource and Referral Service provided this useful guide and checklist to a federal agency that my son's godmother works for. She passed it on to me, and I'm posting it for you.

5 Million Seniors Remain in Poverty Despite 2008 Increase

Next year's 2.3 percent increase in Social Security benefits represents the lowest increase in four years.

Despite the increase, at least five million people aged 65 and over will remain in poverty, since costs are rising significantly faster than the annual Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).

Between 2001 and 2008, Medicare Part B premiums will have soared by more than 93 percent while the COLA will have crept up just 19 percent, leaving many seniors on their own to cover all other rising costs. Part B premiums cover doctors’ visits, tests, and outpatient hospital care. Although the COLA is intended to help seniors keep up with inflation, a recent study by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) that analyzed eight key expenditures found that people 65 and over have lost 40 percent of their buying power since 2000. Expenses such as home heating oil and gasoline have more than doubled since the beginning of the decade, while food staples such as potatoes and butter have increased by 47 and 39 percent, respectively.

A majority of the 48 million Americans aged 65 and over who receive a Social Security check depend on it for at least 50 percent of their total income, and one in three beneficiaries relies on it for 90 percent or more of their total income.

“Social Security is supposed to protect seniors in need – but with five million seniors below the poverty line, it’s clear the system is failing them,” said Shannon Benton, executive director of The Senior Citizens League. “An annual increase of two percent just isn’t enough to shield seniors from costs that are rising by double digits.”

To help offset the cost of Medicare Part B, TSCL is lobbying for a change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) used to determine the COLA. The government currently calculates the COLA based on the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), a slow-rising index that tracks the spending habits of younger workers who don’t spend as much of their income on health expenditures.

However, the government also tracks the spending patterns of older Americans with the CPI for Elderly Consumers, or CPI-E. By tying the annual increase in the COLA to the CPI-E, seniors would see much needed relief in their monthly checks.

For example, a senior who retired with a benefit of $460 in 1984 would have received almost $10,300 more over the past 23 years with the CPI-E.

Social Security Benefit to Rise 2.3 Percent

Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for more than 54 million Americans will increase 2.3 percent in 2008, the Social Security Administration announced Oct. 17.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits increase automatically each year based on the rise in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), from the third quarter of the prior year to the corresponding period of the current year. This year's increase in the CPI-W was 2.3 percent.

The 2.3 percent Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that nearly 50 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2008. Increased payments to more than 7 million Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries will begin on December 31.

Some other changes that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $102,000 from $97,500. Of the estimated 164 million workers who will pay Social Security taxes in 2008, nearly 12 million will pay higher taxes as a result of the increase in the taxable maximum.

Information about Medicare changes for 2008 can be found at www.cms.hhs.gov.