Archive for February, 2009
20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors
We all want the best healthcare that money can buy, but what, if anything, are we doing about it? The one factor that can probably increase your odds of getting the best is you. After all, who will look out for you better than you? The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (U.S. Department of [...]
Three Tips for Senior Citizens from the IRS
The Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) website provides three tips for senior citizens for filing their taxes. Standard Deduction – If you and your spouse are 65 years of age or older and you do not itemize your deductions, you can get a higher standard deduction amount. ”You can get an even higher standard deductions amount if either [...]
Know a Senior That Needs Help With Tax Preparation?
I have enough angst over filing my own taxes, so I was glad to see that AARP offers a program for helping with tax help. AARP Tax-Aide claims to be the nation’s largest, free, volunteer-run tax preparation and assistance service. They serve low- and middle-income taxpayers with special attention to those ages 60 and older. [...]
Get Your Recently Widowed Parent Organized
An article on Nolo.com provides a great checklist of action items for getting your recently widowed parent’s affairs in order after the death of their spouse. Their recommended action Items include: Assets. Take inventory of brokerage accounts, bank accounts, retirement plans, insurance policies, real estate, items in safe deposit boxes, etc. Life Insurance. Determine whether [...]
How To Get a Replacement Medicare Card
If you’ve lost your Medicare card, there’s a form on the Medicare site where you can request a new one. They do point out that: Your Medicare card will arrive in the mail in about 30 days. It will be mailed to the address Social Security has on file for you. If you need proof [...]
Advance Directives, or Procrastination?
Advance directive, or procrastination? Some choice. But that’s what it comes down to. Most people will put off these kinds of decisions because they don’t know how, or don’t have time, or they’ll get to it later…if they think about it at all. There was a brief moment a few years ago, when Terri Schiavo [...]
Elder Law: Seek Support Early On
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in their “Caring For Your Parents” handbook stresses that you shouldn’t “wait until a crisis to find a lawyer who specializes in legal planning for elders.” They encourage you to contact an attorney soon after you take on your role as caregiver to “help you avoid much aggravation and confusion.” “If [...]
Six Things Every Family Needs
One thing I’m learning is that many of the things that apply to seniors, applies to me at a much younger age as well. In a recent issue of Money magazine, there’s an article entitled, “Keeping wealth in the family” that uses a couple who are in their early 40s to discuss the right documents [...]
So, What Can We Flush Down the Toilet?
When I was a kid, flushing things down the toilet was good sport. Of course I was five at the time. Today it seems as though just about nothing, save the obvious, can be flushed. The concern over flushing prescription meds down the drain was amplified last year when the drinking water in 24 major [...]
Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs): Heed the Warning
According to WebMD, ”Approximately 240,000 TIAs per year are diagnosed in the United States.” The online overview explains that “some people call a transient ischemic attack (TIA) a mini-stroke, because the symptoms are like those of a stroke but do not last long. A TIA happens when blood flow to part of the brain is blocked [...]