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The Silver Lining of Working Post Retirement

July 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Working after turning 65 has more than just financial benefits. A new British study found that working a few years post retirement may help ward off dementia.

WebMD‘s definition of dementia is as follows:

Dementia is a loss of mental skills that affects your daily life. It can cause problems with your memory and how well you can think and plan. Usually dementia gets worse over time. How long this takes is different for each person. Some people stay the same for years. Others lose skills quickly.

Your chances of having dementia rise as you get older. But this does not mean that everyone will get it. Many older adults never get it. By age 85, about 35 out of 100 people have it.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia.

The study, which looked at the lifestyle factors that may affect the age of onset of dementia, was conducted by scientists at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry. Researchers analyzed data from patients with Alzheimer’s disease by looking at their education, employment and retirement. The scientists found no connection between education or employment and the age of onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Retirement age, on the other hand, had a significant effect on onset age of Alzheimers. According to the Institute of Psychiatry,

…for the 382 males in the study those who retired later tended to develop disease symptoms later. An extra year of work delayed the onset on average by 6 weeks.

More research is needed to access the reason behind these findings but it may be that the intellectual stimulation that older people gain from the work place prevents a decline in mental abilities keeping people above the threshold for dementia for longer. The possibility that a persons cognitive reserve can still be modified later in life adds weight to the “use it or lose it” concept where keeping active later in life has important health benefits including reducing dementia risk.

You can read the research article titled “Education, occupation, and retirement age effects on the age of onset of Alzheimer’s disease,” which appeared in the International Journal of Geratric Psychiatry in May of 2009.

Filed Under: Retirement

Bankruptcies Due To Health Care Costs Are Not Just For The Uninsured

July 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I have written about out-of-pocket medical expenses many times on The HealthView Retirement Planning blog. My recent post, Health Care Costs In Retirement 101, explains in detail that health care costs are a significant expense even when a person has insurance.

This point is proven in The American Journal of Medicine’s recently published clinical research study shows that more than 62.1% of personal bankruptcies in 2007 were due to debt associated with health care costs. Most of the people who filed for bankruptcy are middle-class and college-educated homeowners. And 75% of them had health insurance.

The American Journal of Medicine study titled, Medical Bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a National Study reveals the following key findings:

Using identical definitions in 2001 and 2007, the share of bankruptcies attributable to medical problems rose by 49.6%

When asked about problems that contributed very much or somewhat to their bankruptcy,
41.8% bankruptcies were due to a health problem
54.9% cited medical or drug costs
37.8% blamed income loss due to illness

Among common diagnoses, nonstroke neurologic illnesses such as multiple sclerosis were associated with the highest out-of-pocket expenditures, followed by diabetes, injuries, stroke, mental illnesses, and heart disease.

Hospital bills were the largest single out-of-pocket expense for 48.0% of patients, prescription drugs for 18.6%, doctors’ bills for 15.1%, and premiums for 4.1%. The remainder cited expenses such as medical equipment and nursing homes. While hospital costs loomed largest for all diagnostic groups, for about one third of patients with pulmonary, cardiac, or psychiatric illnesses, prescription drugs were the largest expense.

Chronic illnesses obviously take a serious toll on individuals, their families, and their finances as health care costs can be staggering. I encourage you to discuss your health risks with your doctors, and learn as much about health care expenses today and in the future so that you will be better prepared.

Filed Under: Healthcare, News

Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs

July 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The Kauffman Foundation's recent study found that the largest group of entrepreneurs are 55-64 years of age. The results of the study are published in The Coming Entrepreneurship Boom paper. Here are some of the key findings:

  • In every single year from 1996 to 2007, Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 had a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity than those aged 20-34

  • For the entire period, the 55-64 group averaged a rate of entrepreneurial activity roughly one-third larger than their youngest counterparts

  • These trends seem likely to persist: in the Kauffman Firm Survey, a longitudinal survey of nearly 5,000 companies that began in 2004, two-thirds of firm founders are between the ages of 35 and 54.3

  • Additionally, Kauffman research has revealed that the average age of the founders of technology companies in the United States is a surprisingly high 39—with twice as many over age 50 as under age 25.4

The study sites some reasons for the trend, including the "continued decline of lifetime employment", longer life expectancy, and fewer barriers to entry due to technology.

It makes sense that Baby Boomers are starting their own businesses. Baby Boomer Magazine shares 10 Reasons for Retiring Baby Boomers to Become Entrepreneurs:

1. Baby Boomers are healthy with many years ahead of us.

2. Baby Boomers want to stay involved and engaged.

3. Baby Boomers enjoy generating extra income.

4. Baby Boomers get to build a business around something we enjoy and are passionate about.

5. Baby Boomers have a full Rolodex and 20-30 years of experience to back us.

6. Baby Boomers want the independence and flexibility that comes from working for ourselves.

7. Baby Boomers have confidence and experience, and know what we're good at.

8. Baby Boomers may already have a pool of money saved to help finance our business.

9. Baby Boomers can do business from home, using the Internet as our storefront.

10. Baby Boomers won't be discriminated against because of our age.

Filed Under: Healthcare, Retirement

Health Screening Businesses Are Serious Business

July 7, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Health screening businesses are thriving despite the current economy. Star-Telegram’s Jan Jarvis’ July 4, 2009 article titled Health-screening businesses are attracting more consumers states the following:

…a growing number of adults who are bypassing their doctor’s office and paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket for health screenings. Despite an ailing economy, the mobile-screening business is healthier than ever as the population ages, people lose their jobs and the worried will look for ways to prevent silent killers such as strokes.

When baby boomers see their friends suddenly drop dead from heart attacks, it hits home. The unexpected deaths of celebrities their own age — including newsman Tim Russert and actor John Ritter — increase their anxiety.

“Since these were people thought to be healthy, it has caused increased concern,” said Dr. John Willard, medical director of cardiovascular services at Texas Health Fort Worth hospital. “People are realizing that proactive healthcare is much better than reactive.”

The screenings performed by health-screening companies are often not covered by insurance even though they may be in the patient’s best interest. Jan Jarvis provides the following example in her article:

Medicare covers testing for aortic aneurysm once in a lifetime. The Society for Vascular Surgery recommends the ultrasound tests to screen for artery disease in adults 55 and older, but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends the test only for men 55 to 75 who have smoked sometime in their life. Most insurance companies do not cover the tests.

There is clearly a need for health screening companies. Hospitals are now starting to offer tests at prices that are competitive with mobile-screening businesses.

These screenings can be potentially life saving, especially for a person at increased risk due to complications like high blood pressure or diabetes.

Screenings by health screening businesses may reveal issues that require lifestyle changes or appointments with a doctor. According to Jarvis’ research:

  • Approximately 15-18% of tests performed through the Texas Health Fort Worth hospital’s program reveal something significant enough to require follow-up
  • In 8% of people screened through Life Line, there’s a problem that should be evaluated by a doctor
  • 8-10% of screenings at Health Yes show something of concern

There are some real success stories with health screenings.

Several years ago, Saundra Niblick’s husband, Orville, learned from a screening that he had osteoporosis and was at high risk for a bone fracture.

“The doctor said he would have never tested him for it because he didn’t fit the profile,” said Niblick, whose husband has since started taking Fosamax.

Niblick, who routinely gets screened through mobile services, said it’s well worth it.

Screenings from health screening companies are valuable for both the uninsured and people that want to take a proactive approach to their health and health care.

Filed Under: Healthcare

Am I Old?

July 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The answer to the Am I old? questions depends on whom you ask.

The Pew Research Center for People and the Press released their Growing Old in America: Expectations vs. Reality survey findings earlier this week and here is the answer to the Am I old question:

Survey respondents ages 18 to 29 believe that the average person becomes old at age 60.
Middle-aged respondents put the threshold closer to 70.
Respondents ages 65 and above say that the average person does not become old until turning 74.

So what about the question of feeling old. The Pew study found:

Only 21% of participants ages 65-74, say they feel old.
Only 35% of participants ages 75 and older, say they feel old.

The results of the  survey show a "sizable gap between the expectations that young and middle-aged adults have about old age and the actual experiences reported by older Americans themselves." Here are some key findings that I found interesting:

"Older adults report experiencing the negative benchmarks of aging often associated with aging (illness, memory loss, an inability to drive, an end to sexual activity, a struggle with loneliness and depression, and difficulty paying bills) at lower levels (often far lower) than younger adults report expecting to encounter them when they grow old.

Older adults report experiencing fewer of the benefits of aging that younger adults expect to enjoy when they grow old, such as spending more time with their family, traveling more for pleasure, having more time for hobbies, doing volunteer work or starting a second career.

The gap in years between actual age and "felt age" widens as people grow older. Nearly half of all survey respondents ages 50 and older say they feel at least 10 years younger than their chronological age. Among respondents ages 65 to 74, a third say they feel 10 to 19 years younger than their age, and one-in-six say they feel at least 20 years younger than their actual age.

About one-in-four adults ages 65 and older report experiencing memory loss. About one-in-five say they have a serious illness, are not sexually active, or often feel sad or depressed. About one-in-six report they are lonely or have trouble paying bills. One-in-seven cannot drive. One-in-ten say they feel they aren't needed or are a burden to others. But when it comes to these and other potential problems related to old age, the share of younger and middle-aged adults who report expecting to encounter them is much higher than the share of older adults who report actually experiencing them.

The same factors that predict happiness among younger adults-good health, good friends and financial security-by and large predict happiness among older adults. However, there are a few age-related differences in life's happiness sweepstakes. Most notably, once all other key demographic variables are held constant, being married is a predictor of happiness among younger adults but not among older adults (perhaps because a significant share of the latter group is made up of widows or widowers, many of whom presumably have "banked" some of the key marriage-related correlates of happiness, such as financial security and a strong family life). Among all older adults, happiness varies very little by age, gender or race."

Read a summary of the report here. You can access the full report here.

Filed Under: Healthcare, Retirement