Insuring Your Independence is an insightful review of issues facing all people. We discuss topics about long term care insurance, life insurance, annuities, Medicare and Medicaid regulations, Medicare supplement insurance, and tips to slow aging and staying independent. We are an interactive community, so join in and let us know your thoughts and questions.
I'm just sort of curious. Is there anyone out there reading my blog? If you have or if you do, please send me an email. I'd like to know if you're finding this beneficial. You can reach me at amwarner@AMWarnerInsurance.com
THANKS.
Option 1: Determining Expenses (-) Assets: Figure a rough estimate of your annual family budget. This would include your mortgage, child care, insurance, and basic living expenses. Don't forget to include expenses such as vacations, and future education plans such as private school and college. Next, estimate a figure for your assets such as savings, social security benefits, or any other income that will be there such as the income of a surviving spouse. Remember, stay-at-home spouses contribute a lot to the family income by by-passing child care, travel, cleaning, cooking, tutoring and associated costs, therefore would need to be insured also.
Option 2: Salary Estimate: Another quick, but more general way, would be to take your current annual salary and multiply that by 7. For example, if you make 60,000/per year then I would recommend buying a minimum of $420,000($60,000 X 7= $420,000).
If your estimate is high, good, it's probably right. If you are worried about the premium cost, I would recommend choosing term life insurance. You can get a policy for the time you would need it (the amount of time your kids would depend on you) for a lower premium than other insurance options.
What's next after you pay for college educations and weddings for the kids? For most long time wage earners, the answer is a safe and secure retirement. That is easier said than done. You must overcome some hurdles first.
1. Retirement is costly. It is estimated you will need 70-80% of your current income to maintain a similar standard of living in retirement. Social security alone will probably not be enough.
2. You could outlive your assets. Due to medical advances and increased education about healthy living, life expectancies have been on the rise. Currently you can expect to live 20 years in retirement (assuming retire at age 65). Will your assets provide an income stream for that length of time? What happens if you need long term care?
3. Health insurance costs keep escalating. There is no end to the spiraling health care expenses. Consider that you have more health challenges as you age. Medicare alone may not be enough.
4. Inflation can rear its ugly head. Since inflation has been relatively low the last few years, its easy to forget its potential impact. Money won't go as far as it does today.
Retirement planning isn't a luxury; it's a necessity. You can improve the odds of securing a comfortable retirement by saving diligently through your working years. Use tax-advantaged retirement planning vehicles (IRA, Annuities) and protect your assets with long term care insurance.
Business Wire 8/18/2005.
Amid rising healthcare costs, employers are seeking cost-effective ways to enhance their benefits offerings, minimize administrative costs, and address the diverse work/life needs of their employees. The result: many companies are expanding their benefits packages by supplementing employer-funded offerings with voluntary benefits, for which employees pay some or all of the costs. That is one key finding of a study conducted in April based on MetLife's client database of benefit trends and offerings at 88 of the top one hundred FORTUNE 500 companies.
Over the past few years, some of MetLife's largest corporate customers have expanded their employee benefits offerings in several key areas. In particular, long-term care insurance (currently offered by 33% of the companies included in the analysis) is the fastest growing employee benefit, up 61% over the past four years. Disability insurance (39%) is the second most popular in terms of growth, up 28% during the same period.
"As the workforce ages and employee diversity increases, large employers are boosting the breadth of their employee benefits offerings," notes Lee Launer, president of MetLife's Institutional Business. "Products such as long-term care insurance - which help employees protect their retirement assets or balance caregiving responsibility for parents/in-laws with work demands - are expected to grow even more quickly over the next five years than they have in the past."
For a copy of the entire study or to talk about offering long term care insurance to your employees, please contact us.
Blueberries: 1/2 cup, 40 calories
Cherries (sweet): 10 medium, 50 calories
Grapes (seedless): 10 medium, 35 calories
Nectarine: 1 medium, 65 calories
Peach: 1 medium, 35 calories
Plum: 1 medium, 35 calories
Raspberries: 1/2 cup, 30 calories
Watermelon: 1/2 cup (diced), 25 calories
Health and Fitness News Service
Monday
Beat around the bush
Lift myself up by the bootstraps
Make mountains out of mole hills
Get all fired up
Jump to conclusions
Climb the walls
Tuesday
Drag my heels
Make my point
Push my luck
Pull my own load
Hit the nail on the head
Wednesday
Bend over backwards
Jump on the Band Wagon
Grab all I can get
Run around in circles
Shoulder my share of responsibility
Thursday
Shop till I drop
Hang loose
Grind to a halt
Rest and recuperate
Friday
Push it to the limit
Pull out all the stops
Add fuel to the fire
Pave the roadway to hell
Throw it all away
Saturday
Open a can of worms
Put my foot in my mouth
Start the ball rolling
Go over the edge
Sunday
Pick up the pieces.
Wade through the morning paper
Lift my spirits
Toot my own horn
Folate, a type of B vitamin may prevent Alzheimer's Disease. It can be found in foods like leafy green vegetables like spinach and strawberries.
Studies have found that folic acid in the amount of 400 micrograms per day can give you a 55% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's. It reduces the blood level of homocysteine, a substance that when elevated may damage brain cells.
Foods rich in folate include whole wheat bread, oranges, broccoli, spinach and bananas. You can also take a vitamin additive.
Caribbean Cooler
In a blender, puree 1 can (15 oz.) cream of coconut, 1 1/2 cups orange juice, 4 cups ice, and 1/4 cup heavy cream until smooth. Pour half of mixture into service pitcher. Add 2 more cups ice and 1 cup pineapple juice from a 46 oz can to the blender. Puree and add to pitcher. Stir remaining pineapple juice into pitcher. Makes 12 cups.
Pink Lady Lemonade
In a saucepan, bring 1 cup sugar and 3/4 cup water to a boil over high heat. Cook, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, and let cool 3 minutes. In a large pitcher, combine sugar syrup, 1 liter plain seltzer, 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice, and 3/4 cup cranberry juice cocktail. Garnish each drink with a cherry. Makes about 8 cups.
Pomegranate Punch
In a large pitcher, combine 1 bottle (64 oz) apple juice with 1 cup pomegranate juice. Serve over ice cubes. Makes 9 cups.
Zany Zingeria
In a saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add 4 tangerine-orange herbal tea bags, and brew for 10 minutes. Discard tea bags. In a large pitcher, combine 1 can (11.5 oz) frozen white grape juice concentrate, 1 liter plain seltzer, and the brewed tea. Serve over ice cubes with grapes and slices of oranges, peaches, and plums. Makes 10 cups.
Iced-Tea Ade
In a saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add 4 decaf tea bags and brew for 10 minutes. Discard tea bags. Place 8 cups ice in a large pitcher, and pour in brewed tea. Stir in a 6-oz container of frozen lemonade concentrate. Serve over ice cubes and garnish with lemon slices. Makes 10 cups.
One day, an American insurance company received a letter from a lady saying that unfortunately she would have to cancel her husband's life insurance policy.
'We always paid it in time', she wrote, 'but since my dear husband's sudden death last year we have had some financial hardship; therefore, we would like not to pay it anymore'.
Don't forget that with your long term care insurance, if you are on claim you don't have to pay your premiums. This would also apply in event of your death. :)
According to leading experts, the number of Americans owning long term care insurance is over 7 million. This includes people who purchased individual policies, coverage through their employer or a government agency as well as self-insured plans such as CalPers.
If you're not one of the 7 million, what are you waiting for. Join the club. Call us so you can have one too.
We here at AM Warner Insurance are on a kick to lose some weight. So far, I have personally lost over 10 pounds. Not bad when all I'm looking for is 13-15 pounds total. I'm using Weight Watchers and it's working. People in other parts of the world are not as heavy as Americans. Here are some of their tips.
France:
Omelette with wild mushrooms. Loading up this classic French dish with exotic mushrooms, such as oyster or cremini, is a great way to fill it out without adding excess calories. Use egg whites or Egg Beaters to make this even more low-cal.
Caribbean:
A colorful mix of fresh kiwi, pineapple, papaya and star fruit topped with toasted coconut and tart honey-lime sauce makes and satisfying lunch.
Italy:
Whole-wheat penne tossed with shrimp, vegetables and olive oil. This dish provides a good amount of fiber, low-cal protein and some healthy fat. Add lots of colorful vegetables to increase the portion size.
Asia:
Use low-fat rice-paper rolls to make these. Combine tofu, rice noodles, cucumber, carrot, red pepper and fresh herbs. Serve with a spicy dipping sauce of lime, orange, ginger and chili.
Marital status is an important factor when considering long-term care planning. Here is important data from the just-published A Profile of Older Americans, 2004 published by the Administration on Aging, US Department of Health and Human Services.
In 2003, older men were much more likely to be married than older women - 71% of men vs. 41% of women. Almost half of all older women were widows. There were over four times as many widows (8.2 million) as widowers (2 million). Divorced and separated older persons represented 10.7% of all older persons in 2003. This is an increase from 5.3% in 1980.
The old rule of thumb was that you should maintain about 6 to 8 times your salary in life insurance. With the costs of everything increasing, the new guideline is 10-12 times your salary.
Life insurance does a number of things. When you are younger, it will pay off the house, put the kids through college, pay of any loans and provide for your spouse to have an income to live off of. When you are older and the kids are gone and the house is paid off, you may want to consider life insurance to pay your estate taxes.
Life insurance is also a way to pass your estate onto your heirs. We can help you do this. Call for more information.
Three elderly gentlemen were talking about what their grandchildren would be saying about them fifty years from now.
"I would like my grandchildren to say, 'He was successful in business'," declared the first man.
"Fifty years from now," said the second, "I want them to say, 'He was a loyal family man'."
Turning to the third gent, the first gent asked, "So what do you want them to say about you in fifty years?"
"Me?" the third man replied. "I want them all to say, "He certainly looks good for his age'!"
Modern medicine can do only so much. At some point, medicine must step aside and let palliative, or end-of-life, care take over. Most doctors recognize this fact—in principle. However, some are not actually delivering on that principle as often as they should.
Many oncologists are not prepared to recommend palliative care when death is near, a new study in the journal Cancer reports. While 75 percent of oncologists surveyed said they believe in palliative care, 20 percent said they don't offer it themselves, nor do they refer patients to those who do.
The problem, the authors state, is that most oncologists simply have not been trained in palliative care. Some do not consider this care important or valid.
This is just one more reason you should appoint a health advocate to speak for you when you are unable to do so and write up a health proxy. Take the issue into your own hands. It's up to you and your loved ones to get the care you want when the end is near.
We can provide a referral to an attorney if necessary for you to draft these documents.
Summer is the time for eating tomatoes raw, in salads, at every opportunity. They are tasty, versatile, and, best of all, loaded with disease-fighting lycopene. This antioxidant appears to help prevent prostate cancer and heart disease. If you have a garden like I do, then you're begging people to take tomatoes off your hands. It seems like I have more tomatoes than a dog has fleas. If you're here in Louisville, call me and take some off of my hands.
Tomatoes Egyptienne
6 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 large lemon, juiced
1 green chili pepper, minced
5 tablespoons cilantro, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Arrange the tomatoes on a platter. Combine the lemon juice, oil, pepper, and herbs, mixing well. Pour over the tomatoes, then chill immediately for 1 to 2 hours. Serve with toasted pita bread.
Makes 6 servings. Nutritional information per serving: 71 calories, 5 g fat, 40 mg sodium, 0 cholesterol
Smart nutrition habits go a long way in preserving health and fitness and preventing disease. While general nutrition advice is similar for all age groups, there are special dietary considerations for those in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.
The American Institute for Cancer Research has a special online publication on just this topic, called Nutrition After Fifty: Tips and Recipes. "Americans are living longer and enjoying life more than ever," the report states. "One desire we all share is to feel good and stay healthy. This brochure can show you how good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle can add vitality to your years and help you reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases."
The brochure includes the following sections:
Prevention Is Possible.
How to Stay Healthy.
Common Age-Related Health Questions.
Recipes.
Additional Resources.
It covers such topics as flavoring your food without salt, easy ways to add more fruits and vegetables to your meals, controlling portion sizes and calories, interactions between common drugs and foods, chewing problems, loss of appetite, constipation, and other issues specific to older eaters.
To download Nutrition After Fifty, click here (http://www.aicr.org/publications/brochures/online/af.htm). Remember to discuss any dietary changes with your personal physician.
