Now What

WEB EXTRA How the Election Will Change 50+ America

WEB

A Complete State-by-State Report at bulletin.aarp.org









Bulletin

6

YOUR HEALTH • YOUR MONEY • YOUR WORLD NOVEMBER 2008 Vol. 49 No. 9 bulletin.aarp.org









Ways to

Cut Your

Energy Costs

PAGE 20





Killer Germ

How to Survive Now

What?

A Trip to the

Hospital

PAGE 36



Back-to-Work We Answer

Shocker Your Questions on

‘I Was Fired Protecting Your 401(k)

For Taking

Sick Leave’ Rebuilding Your Nest Egg

PAGE 34 Saving Your Home PAGE 12

Gas-Saving Plus

Tip of the Month How My Street Paid for

Drive a Golf Cart Wall Street’s Greed PAGE 3

PAGE 6









New Hope for

The ‘Worst’ Cancer

And What It Means

For Patients PAGE 22



Bulletin Bank Crisis Triggers New Scams PAGE 18

6-11 12-18 20-21 22-26 28-34 36-38

In the News Your Money Your World Your Health Your AARP In the Know







November



W

From Wall Street to My Street



arren Buffett likens the were then sliced and diced according to risk of repay-

ment. These slices became another investment op-

financial shock Americans have suf-

portunity, a pattern replicated for financing mergers

fered to that of a heart attack victim and acquisitions and even for anticipated highway

and tunnel tolls, and created an alphabet soup of in-

“flat on the floor.” The problem didn’t vestments that involved trillions of dollars.

Who imposed any discipline on this free-for-all?

develop overnight. It won’t be fixed

Regulators have been in retreat for three decades.

quickly or without further uncer- Banks pointed to rating agencies, which assumed the

fundamentals would be checked by investment banks,

tainty and pain. And it’s dispropor- which assumed global investors would do their own

due diligence.

tionately affecting older Americans.

Now, several months into the effort to untangle the

The problem started with what Buf- regulatory system, former Treasury Secretary James

Baker can still say, “No one knows who owes what with

fett calls “geeks bearing formulas,” the which and to whom.”

Here's what we do know. The impact of the finan-

brainy Wall Street brokers and bank-

cial shock has been keenly felt by older Americans,

ers who created endless investment affecting the value of their homes, retirement plans

and nest eggs at the very moment when

schemes. Add greed, hubris and the speed of instant Reviving individuals have greater responsibility

financial transactions, and the entangled global eco-

the dollar will for managing their retirement finances

take time but less time to recoup their losses. (One

nomic machinery collapsed under its own weight. and a steady positive note: This should end the debate

over privatizing Social Security.)

Confidence and credit vanished, and without them, hand. Employee-managed 401(k)s have replaced

COVER: SCOTT BRUNDAGE; JUPITER IMAGES; COVER INSET: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES; THIS PAGE: JOHN CORBITT









employer-managed defined benefit pension

the free market economy could not function. Long

plans as the major provider of retirement income, but they have lost $2

gone are the It’s a Wonderful Life days when a buyer trillion in the past 15 months, according to the Congressional Budget

Office. For those still working, jobs are in jeopardy. For those needing

financed his home purchase with a mortgage from the short-term financing, loans are scarce. For those needing public trans-

portation, education and health care, state and local governments are

neighborhood savings and loan and faithfully repaid

stressed by shrinking revenue and are cutting services.

it. Two decades ago, the S & L industry collapsed, and “Unlike Wall Street executives, American families don’t have a

golden parachute to fall back on,” said House Education and Labor

commercial banks began repackaging mortgages as Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif.

But irrational despair is no answer. Instead, this is a time for learn-

bonds and selling them to investors. These bundles

ing the fundamentals of sound personal finance: Don’t dip into that

nest egg. Tighten your family budget. Prepare for high gas, heating and

health costs.

And, above all, keep a steady hand. —Jim Toedtman





AARP Bulletin November 2008, Volume 49, No. 9 (USPS Number 002-900; ISSN 1044-1123) is published monthly except February and August by AARP, 601 E St. N.W., Washington, DC 20049 (telephone: 1-888-687-2277). Internet site: bulletin.aarp.org. Sales and Marketing Offices: AARP Publications,

780 3rd Avenue, 41st Floor, New York, NY 10017. One membership includes spouse. Annual membership dues are $12.50 including $3.30 for an annual subscription to AARP THE MAGAZINE and $2.09 for an annual subscription to the AARP Bulletin. A three year membership is $29.50; a two year

membership is $21. Dues outside domestic US mail limits: $17 year for Canada/Mexico; $28 for other international countries. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing offices. Canadian Publications Mail Agreement Number: 40030163 Return undeliverable addresses

to AARP, 2835 Kew Drive, Windsor, ON N8T 3B7. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to AARP Bulletin, c/o AARP, P.O. Box 199, Long Beach, CA. 90801. AARP Bulletin is a registered trademark of AARP. Entire contents copyright © 2008 by AARP. Printed in the USA. The views expressed herein do not

necessarily represent policies of AARP and should not be construed as endorsements. The mention of a product or service herein is solely for information to our readers and may not be used for any commercial purpose. AARP, which was established in 1958, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization

with more than 39 million members ages 50 and older. State offices are located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.









NOVEMBER 2008 AARP BULLETIN 3

In the News

Your Health

$

365 Projected average amount a consumer will spend

on cable or satellite TV in 2009.









Golf Carts Take to the Streets

The Poll

W

hen Bob Woll and his wife, Shirley, head to allow low-speed electric and gas-powered vehicles

Digital Television

the local frozen custard stand in Sesser, Ill., on local roads or permit individual communities to

they make the short trip in their electric golf cart. set their own rules pertaining to use. Although reg-

On some nights, two or three other carts sit in the ulations vary, most of the carts must be equipped

parking lot. “With the economy like it is, people are with lights, horn, turn signals and, in some cases,

trying to save a little money,” says Woll, 67, a retired a slow-moving-vehicle warning flag. But seat belts

electrician. Sesser, a town of 2,000 southeast of St. usually aren’t required—and that worries safety ex-

Louis, now has about 10 carts on perts. Two recent medical studies found a rise

Shirley and

Bob Woll, left,

its streets, Woll says. Golf carts in golf cart accidents in recent years, with an in-

and Curtis are popping up in many communi- crease in injuries occurring on streets or other pub- Were you aware

and Lowanda

ties as an economical response to lic property. “A lot of people perceive golf carts as that as of Feb. 17,

Johnston

2009, people will

wheel along. high gas prices. Twenty-six states little more than toys, but our findings suggest they

need a digital-ready

can be quite dangerous,

TV or cable or

especially when used satellite service?

on public roads,” says

Gerald McGwin, associ- Age 18-49 50-plus



ate director for research Yes

at the Center for Injury

Sciences at the Univer- 96% 96%

sity of Alabama at Bir- No

mingham. For Woll,

whose cart tops out at 4% 3%

13 mph, his major con- Which of the

cern is the approaching following do you

cold weather. But he’ll think you will do

be prepared: His wife to prepare for the

plans to make a cover for change to digital









FROM TOP RIGHT CLOCKWISE: TAKAHARU YOSHIZAWA/GETTY IMAGES; NEWSCOM; DAVID TORRENCE/WONDERFUL MACHINE

the cart, and he plans to TV broadcasting?*

install a heater.

Purchase a digital TV

—Susan Q. Stranahan



28% 24%

R

Keep your analog TV

DTV Coupon esidents of nursing homes and

facilities for intermediate care and subscribe to cable

Program and assisted living are now eligible

or satellite service



Expands to receive one $40 government

coupon toward the purchase of 41% 30%

a TV converter box. After Feb. 17, Keep your analog TV

when all TV transmissions will be digital, the converter boxes will and buy a converter

be necessary for anyone with an analog TV that relies on an out- box for about $40-$50

door antenna or indoor rabbit ears to receive TV signals. “This new ruling fixes what I consider

to be a discriminatory practice against people without access or means to satellite or cable 54% 63%

television,” says Joan Pelletier, director of the Triangle J Area Agency on Aging in Durham, N.C.

Nursing home residents, their representative or a family member must fill out special applica- *Responses from those who own

analog TVs.

tions available online at www.DTV2009.gov. Post office box holders are also eligible under the

Survey of 1,007 adults age 18 and older conducted by ICR

new ruling. They can apply for up to two coupons online or call 1-888-388-2009 toll free. They between Sept. 24 and Sept. 28, 2008.





must also provide their home address. —Cathie Gandel





6 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

In the News

13%

FROM THE OXFORD PROJECT, WELCOME BOOKS. PHOTOGRAPHS © 2008 PETER FELDSTEIN, WWW.WELCOMEBOOKS.COM/THEOXFORDPROJECT









Percentage of older Americans who are verbally

mistreated or taken advantage of financially.









New Online

Help for Caregivers



C aregivers now have a new resource, the

Ask Medicare website, launched by the

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The site (www.medicare.gov/caregivers)

includes information on navigating through

Medicare, health care services, links to part-

ner organizations that assist caregivers, and

Recapturing a Town and Its People

personal caregiver anecdotes. Kerry Weems,

CMS acting administrator, says the new site

provides a valuable one-stop resource for care-

I t started on a lark, says Peter

Feldstein, who set out in 1984

to photograph his neighbors in

More than two decades later,

working with writer Stephen G.

Bloom, Feldstein, now 66, re-

town America. Feldstein chose

not to pose his subjects.“I wanted

to provide a stage for them to act

givers, which will help them to better assist Oxford, Iowa. After he “twisted photographed many of his original themselves out,” he says. He also

Medicare beneficiaries. The care that more arms and cajoled people to do it,” subjects (above) and interviewed marveled at their frankness—

than 44 million Americans provide for their Feldstein made 670 black-and- them about their lives. The result, about their dreams and disap-

family members, friends or neighbors is valued white portraits, displayed them The Oxford Project (Welcome pointments. “They opened up to

at $350 billion annually, according to a recent in an American Legion hall and Books), is a candid look at grow- us in ways that were totally unex-

AARP report. —Rebecca Kern stashed the negatives in boxes. ing up and growing older in small- pected.” —Julia M. Klein









NOVEMBER 2008 AARP BULLETIN 7

In the News

Your Health

7.7 Number of U.S. workers, in millions, who hold down

more than one job.









In Tough Times,

Patients Seek Alternatives What an Outrage

Living on a Time Bomb







F

or acute and chronic care patients, the economic downturn has

prompted really tough choices. Some who make frequent trips to

the doctor or to treatment facilities—such as those undergoing

chemotherapy or dialysis—are skipping weekly treatments or even stopping

their medications to cut transportation costs and save money. Others are

turning to community transportation instead of driving to appointments.

LogistiCare, a transportation management company with centers in 37

states, has seen a 12 percent increase in service requests so far this year,

which may amount to 22 million rides provided in 2008. CEO John Sher-

myen says gas prices are the biggest reason for the increase. The service is

free to patients. Climbing gas prices led Brenda Craddock, 54, of Dallas

to look for an alternative to her multiple trips to the pharmacy. Craddock, a

three-times-a-week dialysis patient who needs several medications daily,

now uses DaVita Rx, a mobile pharmacy that comes to her treatment facil-

ity. “What we’re hearing is that patients need to consolidate their trips

so that they can save on gas and other expenses,” says Josh Golomb, general

manager of DaVita Rx. The average dialysis patient can take eight to nine

medications daily, he says, and

can require four or five trips a

month to the pharmacy. “The

bad news is, when you’re out

of medication and you delay

that medication, there are W hen Renee Hale, 50, moved to her Renee Hale

new home in southeast Orlando, is concerned

about her

Fla., in 2002, she never expected to worry home, built on

consequences,” Golomb says.

“Those consequences ulti- about bombs in the neighborhood. But six a WWII testing

mately are passed on to tax- years later, bombs and munitions are com- ground.

payers.” —Angela Bryant Starke mon conversation topics. That’s because

Hale’s home was built just outside a World War II-era military

demonstration ground, a fact that Hale and her neighbors

learned about last year after the Army Corps of Engineers

Free Health Care was called in to investigate some suspicious items in the area.



In the Budget These days it’s not unusual to see Army Corps personnel

combing the area with metal detectors looking for munitions





W hile the United States ponders universal

health care, a town near Tokyo has decided

to foot the bill for its elders. Hinode-machi (pop.

that remain buried 60 years later. So far, nearly 200 items

have been recovered, including 23-pound bombs, rockets and

incendiary devices. Hale and other residents now wonder

16,000) will start paying medical expenses for all about their personal safety and the long-term health effects

residents 75 and older next year. Embracing this of living amid munitions. They also worry that the value of

policy will cost the town’s government about 85 their homes is shrinking rapidly. “I was really upset,” Hale

million yen annually, or roughly $800,000, to care says. “I’m self-employed. I don’t have a 401(k). My house,

for its 1,830 eligible residents. The increased that’s my investment.” Carson Chandler, a spokesman for

tax revenue associated with the opening of a large the city of Orlando, says officials knew about the former mili-

shopping mall last year made free health care for tary site—one of more than 700 in Florida—but believed that

LEFT: GETTY IMAGES(2); RIGHT: BOB SCOTT







the elderly viable. Japan’s Health, Labor and Wel- it had been cleared years ago. “This is a horrible situation for

fare Ministry says Hinode-machi’s experiment is a these residents,” Chandler says. “For us right now, this issue

first for a Japanese municipality. —Blair S. Walker is still a life-safety issue.” –Michelle Diament







(

(

(

(( Listen to the Bulletin on NFB-NEWSLINE, a free service of the National Federation of the Blind. Call 1-866-504-7300 toll free or go to www.nfbnewsline.org. (



8 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

In the News

3.1 Number of U.S. workers, in millions, who face daily

commutes of at least 90 minutes to work.







He Waits on

Tables and Now Hear This

People, Trends and Ideas

The Needy





S

ometimes, even Har-

A Winning Chapter

old “Billy” DeLong Houston resident Kaye Moon Winters, 61, is

has to yield to Rus- the winner of the Your Next Chapter essay

sian tanks. America’s old- contest sponsored by Borders and AARP. Not

est working union waiter bad for someone who started college at age

had planned to travel to the 55 and earned her degree in English at 60.

Winters’ winning entry, “My Next Chapter,”

Republic of Georgia in Au-

details what led her to start a 250-person

gust to serve at an educa-

support group for nontraditional students

tion camp for diabetic chil-

attending San Jacinto College, her current

dren, which the 87-year-old employer. “Grandma Moses isn’t going to

Queens, N.Y., resident had have anything on me,” says the grandmoth-

done the previous three er of three, who’s writing a memoir. To read

years. But the camp closed her entry, go to www.aarp.org/community/

in the shadow of the Russian kmoonpoet.

military’s invasion of Geor-

gia. So instead, DeLong— Pyre and Water

known to those he serves The nonprofit Nippon Foundation has an idea

as “Uncle Billy”—will travel that addresses Japan’s impending crematorium

shortage: Use ships to incinerate human remains

to Vietnam in December to

at sea. “A cremation vessel would have many ad-

help feed street kids. “My

vantages,” says Nippon spokesman Katsuhiro

motto is, ‘Service above Motoyama. “It is cheap to build, and it does not

self,’ ” says DeLong. He waits tables at some of New York’s luxury ho- Harold “Billy” occupy any land.” Last year 1.1 million Japanese

DeLong uses

tels as a member of Local 6 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant citizens died, a tally that’s expected to zoom to

his wages

Employees International Union, after “retiring” in 2002 from a career as a waiter 1.7 million by 2040, thanks to Japan’s rapidly ag-

to fund his ing society. Most of the population are Buddhists,

that included military intelligence work behind the iron curtain.

humanitarian

DeLong uses money he makes from working 50 to 75 banquets a year who are cremated according to custom.

excursions.

to pay for his humanitarian trips to places such as India and Africa.

He’s also tended to Hurricane Katrina victims. Because of his volun- Road to Wii-hab

Who knew a popular video game system would

teer work, the New York City Rotary Club appointed him traveling

morph into a rehabilitation tool for older adults?

ambassador. “No matter how old you are, you can get out and help

The Nintendo Wii is sprouting up at hospitals and

others,” he says. —Joe McGavin

nursing facilities nationwide, enabling therapists

and nurses to rehab patients’



Swedish A fter a newspaper report revealed that some Swedish banks

had age limits for older adults seeking certain types of loans,

upper-body injuries by making it

possible for them to play games







TOP: GREGG SEGAL; BOTTOM: RALPH ORLOWSKI/GETTY IMAGES

a public outcry led at least one bank to change its policy. At

Bank Ikano Bank people over age 70 were ineligible for unsecured loans.

of virtual tennis, bowling, base-

ball and golf. P&M Healthcare

Gets the Bank officials said they didn’t want to discriminate, but that it all

came down to risk. “However much we may wish it were different,

has Wiis in its 39 Texas facilities,



Ageism we know that the risk that we are going to die or become seriously

including the Vista Hills Health-

care Center in El Paso, where resi-

Message ill increases sharply with age,” Ikano representative Marina Nilsson

Eiman wrote on the bank’s website in defense of the policy. But after Wii makes dents flock to the Wii just for fun,

rehab fun says chief nurse Melinda Pineda.

a week of criticism the bank relented, saying that age alone would no for older —Blair S. Walker

longer yield a rejection. And it’s a good thing they did, says Sally Hurme at AARP Financial adults.

Services. The old policy “smacks of ageism,” she says. —Michelle Diament





10 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

In the News

67% The growth, from 2000 to 2007, in number of

parents who lived with their adult children.









EXCLUSIVES ON bulletin.aarp.org



Market Don’t Miss ... Eye on Energy

Madness Our video on the 50-plus In a special report, learn

Visit our Economy homeless (right) who are forced how to lower your energy

Wa tc h p a ge fo r to live out of their cars. (bulletin costs and where to turn

the latest financial .aarp.org/safe_parking) for help if they get out of

news. (bulletin.aarp.org/ Our update on getting flu control. (bulletin.aarp.org/

JOSE MANDOJANA









economy_watch) shots. (bulletin.aarp.org/flu_shot) energy_costs)









NOVEMBER 2008 AARP BULLETIN 11

Your Money



My nest egg is shrinking.

I can’t sleep.

What should I do?









You’ve got

Questions Help!



We’ve got



Facing a

Answers

A volatile stock market, falling property values, rising

turbulent prices and mounting unemployment have shaken even

economy

and the most stoic Americans. We’ve received hundreds of

I have bank accounts,

financial questions from worried readers. Many wonder if their an IRA and a 401(k). Are

insecurity, they insured?

nest eggs are safe, how to stretch their budgets as health

Americans

The Federal Deposit Insurance

are deeply costs rise, and whether they should delay retirement— Corporation (FDIC) has just

concerned or return to work—to meet expenses. We asked finan- raised the insurance limit for

about their individual bank deposits, from



future. cial experts around the nation to address your concerns. $100,000 to $250,000. So if you

have $250,000 or less in an IRA,

As always when investing, consult a financial adviser. checking or savings account,

and your FDIC-insured bank

By









ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE OF MODELS FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES. LEFT: GETTY IMAGES, RIGHT: FIONA ABOUD

fails, you’d be covered against

Carole Fleck

any loss. Joint accounts held

The market has shaken me up. I’m worried about by a husband and wife would

my nest egg, which is worth less now. Should the be covered up to $500,000

way I handle my savings be based on my age and ($250,000 for each).

years out to retirement? Sadly for American workers,

defined contribution plans such

In a word, yes. Your age and years until retirement, as 401(k)s are not protected

your post-retirement income and the value of your against market losses. However,

Will our overall investments are the most important factors in federal protections are in place

retirement determining how to allocate your portfolio. to shield you if your employer or

As you approach your retirement age, diversified the firm managing your account

funds last? investments that focus more on capital preservation goes broke. Under the Employee

and income generation—and less on riskier growth Retirement Income Security

stocks—are your best bets. Older investors may opt for Act (ERISA), the amount in your

the safety of money market funds because they have 401(k) account cannot be claimed

less time to recover from market losses. by creditors of the failed firms.







12 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your Money





My money is tied up in I purchased a variable

a money market fund and annuity to have income for

in a brokerage account. Will life. Should I be concerned

Is it safe? my car Is there about the market downturn?

insurance help for

The federal government now go up? Medicare Because variable annuities

temporarily insures money

market funds against losses for

premiums? fluctuate with the market, they

allow you to take advantage

the next year. The guarantee of a market boom. But they

of a $1 share price was created also may not protect you from

after a large money market a down market unless you

fund fell below $1 a share in buy a guaranteed minimum

September in a rare move withdrawal benefit. The

I want to switch auto

known as “breaking the buck.” withdrawal benefit gives you

insurance carriers, but I’ve

Conversely, your brokerage a guaranteed income stream

had a bad patch. I’ve been

account, which may include regardless of the performance

late on my mortgage and

mutual funds, stocks or bonds, of the investment accounts.

credit card payments, and

is not protected against market The downsides to that feature:

my credit score has gone

swings. But your account is It costs more and most insurers

down. Would this affect the

insured against fraud, so if your restrict the investment choices.

cost of a new policy?

broker disappears overnight, You may also consider

the Securities Insurance transferring your variable

Protection Corporation would Most likely. When your credit annuity to a fixed annuity.

insure your account up to score goes down, your insurance The principal is guaranteed,

$500,000. For this reason, you premium goes up. Insurers look and withdrawals of up to 10

should make sure that your at your driving record as well percent of the account value

brokerage is SIPC-insured. as an insurance score derived are permitted each year

from data in your credit report. without a penalty. However,

(It’s the same information that you may incur stiff penalties

I just lost my part-time job.

Is my credit card companies use, but for switching from a variable to

I’m having trouble paying my

money insurers say this score gives

Medicare premiums. Can I

a fixed annuity, so check with

them an accurate probability

safe? on whether an applicant will get financial help for this?

your adviser for details.



file a claim.)

It’s important to know what’s You can apply for help from

on your credit report so you can your state Medicare Savings

correct any mistakes. Go Programs (MSP). If you qualify, What

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: FIONA ABOUD; RYUICHI SATO/GETTY IMAGES; TIM HAWLEY/GETTY IMAGES; FIONA ABOUD (2)









to www.annualcreditreport the state will pay your Part B about my

premiums and you’ll also be

.com to get a free copy. Beyond annuity?

The Wall Street drama is that, you can try to explain automatically eligible for low-

making me very nervous. your situation to your insurance cost Medicare prescription drug

Should I bail out from the company, though it’s under coverage. Eligibility depends on

market now? no obligation to reduce your your income and possibly your

premium. savings. If your income is low

It’s best to stay the course. enough, an MSP may also pay

A highly diversified portfolio your other out-of-pocket costs

in Medicare—the Part A and Part

that reflects the amount of risk

Wh

When B deductibles and copayments

you’re comfortable with, as well

as your goals and time horizons,

will it for medical services.

will ultimately serve you well. end

end? To find out if you’re eligible

That’s why so many advisers for MSP help, call Medicare at

recommend that you hang in 1-800-633-4227 or go online

there. In general, investors will to www.medicare.gov and

most likely come out ahead click on “Find Helpful Phone

if they avoid panic selling and Numbers and Websites” under

panic liquidation. Search Tools.







NOVEMBER 2008 AARP BULLETIN 13

Your Money



What if Is it too

I can’t I decided to cash in my

What risky

401(k) and renovate my

sell my home since the market took about to stay

house? a dive. I felt much better, credit in the

and my kitchen and bath cards? stock

look great. I’m 53. Was this market?

a bad move?





I can’t sell my house. What It was probably better for

do I need to know if I want to your peace of mind than for

rent it out? retirement security. Between

the taxes and penalties for early

In this scary economy, is

Renting your house takes withdrawal, you probably lost

it better for me to use my

patience, common sense and about 30 percent of your 401(k)

credit card or my debit card

a price that reflects what funds—and that’s before you

for purchases?

comparable properties are even cashed the check. What’s

bringing in each month. You done is done. Try to rebuild your

It depends on your situation.

may want to go to websites like retirement savings so you’ll have

Use your credit card if you

Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) or a nest egg you can count on.

can pay the full balance each

Rentometer (www.rentometer month. That way, you’re

.com) to check out comparable borrowing someone else’s

rentals in your area. money to finance your monthly

Next, screen applicants when

How purchases at no interest. If

you’re looking for a good tenant.

Check with their previous

will you’re carrying a balance, don’t

My insurance only partially

go further into debt. In that

landlords for their payment all this covered my surgery and

case, use your debit card so

history as well as how they cared affect you’re not adding to your debt

post-op treatment. I’ve

for the home. Make sure they have my load. Be careful though. It’s easy

been trying to pay off the

balance but recently lost my

a stable income and job history. 401(k)? to forget to record a payment.

job. What should I do about









CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SEYMOUR HEWITT/GETTY IMAGES; GETTY IMAGES; FIONA ABOUD; ANDREW HOBBS/GETTY IMAGES; GETTY IMAGES; FIONA ABOUD

The Landlord Protection Agency Overdrawing a bank balance will

(www.thelpa.com) offers free these medical bills?

result in a painful bank charge.

landlord forms as well as a tenant If you’re struggling with a tight

screening document for $4.99. Explain the problem to the

budget and aren’t a careful

Finally, be sure to get landlord hospital and your doctors

record keeper, pay in cash. That

insurance and require your tenant and try to work out a monthly

can be tough, but it’s a powerful

to get renter’s insurance. repayment plan with each of

self-discipline tool that will help

them. Be sure to pay on time or

you avoid spending more money

your account could be turned

than you can afford.

over to a collection agency.

Can I

Hospitals that receive federal

afford funding are required to provide

gifts I live on Social Security

Can I get “charity care” up to a specific

for my and stock dividends. Given

help to amount per year. Find out

grand- the market, I’m worried pay my if your hospital gets federal

kids? about having enough money medical funding so you can apply. To

for Christmas gifts for my bills? learn if you qualify for other

grandchildren. Any ideas? benefits, contact your state

health department and local

You might consider a holiday social service agencies, and

sales job. Hours are flexible, not look into Medicaid, the federal-

a lot of training is involved and state program for low-income

you may get a discount for gifts. Americans. Go to benefits

Shops welcome older workers: .gov and search “Medicaid/

Retail employs more people 65- Medicare” for contact

plus than any other industry. information in your state.







14 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your Money





I am 73, retired and living on a fixed I’m not one to ride out the storm

income. I have a couple of CDs that on Wall Street. Where can I park my

pay very little interest. Everything How money that’s less risky?

costs more these days, and I worry long

about running out of money. What should The safest investments are

can I do? I try to certificates of deposit and money

hang market funds, particularly those that

Perhaps you can work part time or

on? invest in Treasury bills. But there’s a

lower your expenses by eating out less, tradeoff. The safest investments usually

driving less or cutting back on other non- produce the lowest returns. Buying

necessities. When your CDs come due, annuities—or charitable gift annuities

shop around at several banks, brokerage from a charity or university, which come

firms and mutual fund companies for with tax breaks—may be an alternative

the highest rates. Go to www.bankrate for investors like you who are seeking

.com for comparisons. But make sure the to reduce their stock exposure and who

CDs are FDIC-insured. want an income stream for life.







Our Experts: Gary Strom, Partnervest Financial Group, Santa Barbara, Calif.; Birny Birnbaum, Center for

Economic Justice, Austin, Texas; Mitchell Freedman, CPA, Sherman Oaks, Calif.; Joe Hearn, Teckmeyer

To see more Top Questions from Financial, Omaha, Neb.; Sally Hurme, AARP; Patricia Barry, AARP Bulletin; R.D. Norton, American Institute for

members, go to Your Money at Economic Research, Great Barrington, Mass.; Jean Setzfand, AARP; Jim Schlagheck, author of Cash-Rich

Retirement; Pran Tiku, Peak Financial Management, Waltham, Mass.; Danielle Babb, author of Accidental

bulletin.aarp.org









FIONA ABOUD

Landlord: How to Rent Your Home When It Doesn’t Make Sense to Sell It.









16 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Save a Buck Your Money

Tips for smart consumers







Shopper’s Helper



L

Pass the Popcorn ooking for a new camera, sturdy trash

bags or the best dating service? Over-

Movie night at home is getting cheaper. Redbox

whelmed by choices? Consider Con-

(www.redbox.com) offers rentals through its vending

sumerSearch.com, a website of more than 300

machines at some 8,000 locations across the country,

product reviews that consolidate and analyze

often at supermarkets and other stores, for as little as $1. Membership for Netflix

comments from experts, such as Consumer Re-

(www.netflix.com) costs as little as $5 a month to view thousands of DVDs—movies

ports and Cnet.com, plus user comments post-

and TV series—with free shipping to and from your home, or via your computer.

ed on the Internet. “We do the research you

And here’s something that costs nothing, zip, nada. At easy-to-navigate website

would do if you had the time,” says

Hulu (www.hulu.com), you can view more than 165 movies and some 300 TV shows

ConsumerSearch managing editor

online from NBC Universal, Fox and cable channels that show such TV classics as

Christine Frietchen. Although the

The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Fantasy Island.

website receives some money from

Still not enough for you die-hard watchaholics? Check out the other network

JIM CORNFIELD/CORBIS; JUPITER IMAGES









retailers, she adds, the reviews are

websites. ABC and CBS also offer full-length episodes of their shows. Depend-

independent. The most popular items people want in-

ing on your computer, you may be able to use a “TV-out” cable to connect it di-

formation on are mattresses, vacuum cleaners, TVs, cof-

rectly to a TV set for “big-screen” viewing. For more information, visit www.svideo

feemakers and, depending on the season, lawnmowers or

.com/compaq1700.html. —Sid Kirchheimer

snowblowers. About 10 new reports are added to the site

each month. —Caroline E. Mayer









NOVEMBER 2008 AARP BULLETIN 17

Your Money Scam Alert

The economic crisis sparks more ID thievery







New Twist on Old Fraud By Sid Kirchheimer









H

ere they go again: Scammers, as usual, have wasted no earlier this year, the IRS became

time trying to profit from the crisis of the day, in this case the target.”

the economic troubles that have many Americans wor- Although banks never send

ried about the safety of their bank accounts and investments. e-mails asking customers to up-

A flurry of bogus “phishing” e-mails—a new twist on old (and date their account information,

often successful) scams to steal identity—have been sent in re- such bogus requests defrauded

cent weeks, often under the false claim of updating account consumers of more than $3 bil-

information in newly merged banks. lion last year. They are often sent

Two e-mails making the rounds aim to snag customers of JP- by overseas scammers who are

Morgan Chase, which recently acquired the failed Washington hard to trace and nearly impos-

Mutual savings bank. In one, the subject line reads, “Account sible to prosecute.

review—Chase Team identified some Be wary, too, of incoming

unusual activity in your account.” In the e-mails from online invest-

other, it reads, “You have 1 new ALERT

‘Scammers ment newsletters and of-

message.” Both tell their targets to click like to use fers to join online bulletin

on a link that takes them to a phony web- global crises boards recommending

site, where they are asked to update their and headlines “stock picks.” Although

bank accounts by revealing personal in- when baiting some are genuine, others

formation, including bank account num- consumers. ’ “are tools for fraud,” ac-

ber, PIN and Social Security number. cording to the Securities

“It never ends. These crooks just put a and Exchange Commis-

new top paragraph on their last phishing e-mail and send it out sion. For SEC tips on separating

in bulk,” says Tom Kelley of Chase. the good from the bad, visit www

Another e-mail purports to be from Wachovia, recently acquired .sec.gov/investor/pubs/cyber

by Wells Fargo. Recipients are told to download software for its fraud/newsletter.htm.

“Wachovia Security Plus” protection. But doing so releases a virus If you believe that your bank,

that could infect your computer and track passwords and other investment or credit card ac-

personal information, says Wachovia spokesman Matt Wadley. count has been jeopardized, contact the company directly. Don’t

“Scammers like to use global crises and high-profile news hit reply on the e-mail. Enter the firm’s online address yourself

headlines when baiting consumers,” said Peter Horan, chief or call the phone number on your statement or credit card.

executive officer of Goodmail Systems, creator of the industry Your best protection always is to delete—without opening—

standard for secure e-mail, in a statement. He added, “In the any of these messages.

wake of Hurricane Katrina, millions of Americans received fake

e-mails claiming to be from charitable organizations soliciting Sid Kirchheimer is the author of Scam-Proof Your Life, pub-

donations. When the government distributed stimulus checks lished by AARP Books/Sterling.





ASK SID





Is there really an epidemic of license plate thefts?

t’s true that with higher gas gas. But there’s no epidemic. Anyone by securing them with star-bit or Torx

prices, more thieves are swiping who steals a license plate to get gas must screws, not Phillips-head or single-slot-

license plates, putting them on get around any requirement to pay be- ted types. Please send your queries to

their vehicles, then filling up and fore pumping. And surveillance cam- Ask Sid, 601 E St. N.W., Washington, DC

fleeing without paying. If your plate is eras can capture images of the thief’s 20049, or e-mail asksid@aarp.org. We

CHRISTOPH NIEMANN









stolen, it could look like you stole the vehicle. Still, you can protect your plates regret we can’t answer all of them.







18 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your World



The cost of staying warm is spiking.

It hits older people hardest.

How can you escape the squeeze?









ColdComfort By Dianne Donovan





B 6

y early October Joyce M. Moore was wearing heavy sweaters indoors and bun-

dling up in a fleece blanket. Upstate New York, where Moore has spent her 77 Ways You

years, had already seen frost. That weather, combined with her heart and blood Can Cut

pressure problems, added up to cold days and colder nights for Moore.

Costs

Lower your thermostat a few de-

Supported solely by Social Security, Moore confirms that huge price increases predicted grees and bundle up more indoors.

for heating fuel this winter worry her. If it weren’t for a federal heating assistance pro- Set your water heater tempera-

ture to low, or about 120 degrees F.

gram to help make ends meet, “I’d freeze,” she says. “I wouldn’t be able to stay here in

Drain a quart of water from your

the house because I couldn’t pay for the lights or buy groceries.” water heater every three months to

remove sediment.

Replace or wash furnace filters.

She’s not alone. When the cold winds blow this winter, they’ll bring an $2,524. Those who heat with

Put weather stripping or caulk-

extra chill to millions of older Americans who likely face record costs to natural gas paid, on average, ing around windows, and weather

heat their homes, even as other economic factors are squeezing tight bud- $855 last winter, compared stripping around exterior doors.

gets. Prices are going up across the country, but the Northeast will be hit with an expected $1,017 this Check for drafts around electrical

hardest—so hard, in fact, that the Boston Globe called the spike in heating year. And in households that outlets, ceiling fixtures and ducts,

oil prices a potential “public health disaster.” use electric heat, the overall and insulate if necessary.

That’s no exaggeration. Heating oil may cost as much as 30 percent more average bill is likely to rise

than last winter, and natural gas 20 percent more, according to the Energy from $858 to $944.

Information Administration, a statistical arm of the U.S. Department of En- One factor is constant: The burden of heating costs will be disproportion-

ergy. Electricity could be 5 to 10 percent more costly, and far more in some ately heavy on older Americans, especially those who live on fixed incomes

areas of the country where rate freezes established to ease the transition in much greater numbers than their younger counterparts. Total income in

to deregulation are expiring. more than a third of older households falls below $20,000 a year. As heat-

Those statistics convert to a lot of dollars. According to the EIA, heating ing prices rise, those people pay an increasingly higher percentage of their

the average home with oil cost $1,939 last winter; this year it’s likely to cost income to stay warm than do more affluent families.



20 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your World









legally blind, is living on Social Security and worrying about the coming

winter. Filling the house’s two oil tanks this fall cost $1,750. “I could hardly

believe it,” she says. She expects to refill the tanks as often as once a month

this winter.

How will she cope? “Lots of blankets,” Conley says, “and more long un-

derwear!” But, she adds, she’ll do without some things this winter: “You cut

back; you have to cut back.”

Another way Conley and millions of others cope is by applying for help

from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a federal plan ad-

ministered by the states. Conley received about $600 worth of oil through

LIHEAP last year, she said, in addition to a donation of 100 gallons of oil

from Citizens Energy Corp., a Boston-based nonprofit.

There is some good news: This fall, a bipartisan majority in Congress

doubled LIHEAP funding for fiscal year 2009, which began on Oct. 1,

2008, raising the total available funds above $5 billion. Federal guidelines

establish maximum incomes for individuals and couples, but eligibility

and grant amounts vary from state to state.

Other federal help for low-income households comes from the Weath-

erization Assistance Program,









3

which provides funds to make

homes more energy-efficient. The

energy legislation that Congress

Places

passed this fall allocated $250 To Turn

million for the program, higher For Help

than the previous year’s level. The National Energy Assis-

There are other options. Many tance Referral clearinghouse

credit unions—including more will help you contact an

than half of those in Maine—have agency in your state to apply

“We are really, really concerned about the elderly” this winter, says Robin begun offering their members low- to the Low Income Home En-

Sherman, research manager at the University of Massachusetts’ Donahue interest loans to help pay for fuel. ergy Assistance Program or

Institute and lead author of a recent report on escalating home heating As important as they are, gov- for other public assistance.

costs in Massachusetts. The institute’s research found that 60 percent of ernment programs, private non- It can also help you contact

providers of emergency

householders deemed to be “burdened” or “severely burdened” by the cost profit assistance and conserva-

charitable assistance. Call

of heating their homes are over 60 years old; 44 percent are over 70. “This tion-minded consumers are un-

1-866-674-6327 toll free or

is a serious problem,” Sherman says. likely to solve the crisis that win- go to www.energynear.org.

Geography doesn’t help, either. More than 40 percent of older Americans— ter seems to bring, year after year, Look on your energy bill for

over 15 million people—live in the Northeast or the Midwest, the regions to millions of older Americans. your natural gas or electricity

most prone to cold weather. Those are also regions where residents are most Maine’s Sen. Olympia Snowe, R, provider’s contact informa-

likely to heat with price-spiking natural gas or oil. has tacitly acknowledged that, tion. Most companies offer

To make matters even worse in the Northeast, oil, which unlike electric- saying, “We can no longer simply free audits that assess how

ity and natural gas can be withheld for nonpayment in many cold-weather ‘patch’ the problem of rising en- much energy your home uses

states, is the overwhelming choice for home heating. Rumblings of trouble ergy costs.” She is pressing for a and how you can make it more

with energy bills were already evident as far back as August, when util- national policy that would dimin- efficient. Some companies

provide emergency aid for very

ity shutoffs for nonpayment were up 10 percent nationally over the previ- ish the country’s dependence on

low-income customers.

ous year, the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association reported. foreign oil.

Check whether your

Among customers of New York state’s major utilities, the increase was 17 Until that happens, though, old- credit union offers no-

percent, an Associated Press survey found. er people across the country will interest or low-cost

“We are very concerned,” says Mark Wolfe, executive director of the be bundling up—and worrying. loans to stretch

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVID GOTHARD









NEADA. “The average Social Security check for a single person is about out your heating

$1,094 per month, only about $100 a month more than the cost to fill up a tank Dianne Donovan is a writer in bill payments. If you

of heating oil, and many families need up to three fill-ups for the winter.” Maryland. To read her interview don’t belong to a credit

That’s very bad news for people like Dorothy Conley, who has lived in the with Bruce Harley, author of Cut union, look for one you

same two-family home in South Boston for 54 years. She raised six children Your Energy Bills Now, go to bull qualify to join in time to

there, and a daughter and her family now live upstairs. Conley, now 81 and etin.aarp.org/energy on Nov. 10. apply for a loan.





NOVEMBER 2008 AARP BULLETIN 21

Your Health



‘This is the worst cancer.’

Research provides new clues.

A top doctor hunts for proof.









I

t was national news

when Sen. Edward Ken-

nedy of Massachusetts

was diagnosed with brain

cancer last May. Then, just

weeks later, veteran politi-

cal columnist Robert No-

vak also was found to have

a malignant brain tumor.

Suddenly, the public was

awash in a flood of stories

about this deadly form of

cancer. The fresh focus on

this disease comes at a

critical time, as scientists

explore a new theory that

could unlock the mystery

of brain cancer—and other

cancers as well.

Paradoxically, adult stem









Johns Hopkins brain surgeon

CHRIS HARTLOVE









Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa once

labored as a migrant worker.





22 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your Health









Cancer

Brain

Could Adult

Stem Cells Be

the Cause—

and the Cure?



cells may be both the cause of can- cancer. (Unlike the use regenerate through adult cancers from other parts of their

cer and a cure for it. of embryonic stem cells, neural stem cells. What we body have spread to their brain.

That theory, barely discussed which requires the cre- are exploring—and this is Brain cancer is one of the most

even five years ago, has captivated ation and destruction the great leap—is whether intractable. In the last 30 years the

the country’s leading researchers, of an embryo, the use of normal neural stem cells median length of survival for pa-

including Alfredo Quiñones-Hino- adult stem cells found in By can lose their ability to tients with cancer that originates

josa, M.D., a 40-year-old one-time

farm worker from Mexico who

children and adults is not

politically controversial.)

Barbara self-regulate and become

dangerous stem cells that

in the brain has increased by only

four months—to 14.6 months.

now heads the Brain Tumor Cen- Stem cells become new Basler create tumors. “I think of this as the worst can-

ter at the Johns Hopkins Bayview cells to maintain and re- “We are just beginning cer, and if we can make progress

Medical Center in Baltimore. pair tissue. Neural stem cells, for to understand this link between with brain cancer I assure you that

Quiñones is a researcher with a example, create new brain cells, stem cells and cancer,” he stresses. many other cancers will benefit,

difference. Dressed in his green while hematopoietic stem cells “We have to prove that brain can- too,” says Quiñones.

scrubs and fresh from the second of create new blood cells. cer stem cells exist. But I think the Along with his stem cell research,

what will be three brain surgeries New studies suggest that cancer potential here is real.” Quiñones runs a lab that is analyz-

that day, Quiñones puts in punish- of the brain—along with cancer of Close to 44,000 people will be di- ing the medical records of thou-

ing 16-hour shifts, working not just the breast, prostate, colon, pancre- agnosed this year with tumors that sands of brain cancer patients,

in the operating room but in a brain as, lung and a host of other organs— originate in the brain; half of the looking for clues to more effec-

cancer research lab as well. “The grows from adult stem cells present tumors will be malignant. Another tive treatments. So far he’s found

surgery can be perfect, a beautiful in many tissues. 170,000 patients will learn that that patients with high glucose

work of art,” he says. “But I still It’s not clear how stem cells may

know that no matter what I do, cause cancer, but investigators

these patients will eventually suc- theorize that rogue cancer stem

ALFREDO QUINONES-HINOJOSA, JOHNS HOPKINS KIMMEL CANCER CENTER (2)









cumb to this disease. So how can I cells have an uncanny ability to re-

not look for a cure when I see my pair damage to their DNA and are

patients and their families and the therefore able to withstand stan-

suffering this cancer causes?” dard radiation and chemotherapy

It’s that work and passion that last treatments. Quiñones and his col-

year led Popular Science to name leagues hope that by targeting these

Quiñones to its annual Brilliant Ten cells, they can destroy the cancer

list of “the most creative, the most and prevent its return. BORDER CROSSING One dark night Quiñones scrambled over

a chainlink fence into California. He eked out a living as a farm

groundbreaking, the most brilliant “We were once taught that brain hand and painter. His home was this ramshackle trailer.

young scientists in the country.” cells die and can’t be replaced,” Qui-

Quiñones is convinced that adult ñones says. “We now know that the

stem cells act as triggers for brain mammalian brain has the ability to



NOVEMBER 2008 AARP BULLETIN 23

Your Health



levels and patients who are clini- accept that,” he says. that just a few cancer and all failed to produce tumors.

cally depressed have much worse Quiñones, who lived stem cells left behind It appears that cancer stem cells

outcomes than other patients. in a dilapidated trail- after surgery renew may make up only a tiny portion of

“Now, when I meet a patient, I er, took English les- the tumor. the brain tumor, which means that

want to know his glucose level and sons and enrolled at “We have isolated if they do trigger tumor growth, sci-

whether he is clinically depressed, a community college cells from human brain entists may have been studying the

because we can treat those condi- while juggling jobs as tumor samples that in a wrong cells 95 percent of the time.

Quiñones

tions and improve his chances for a painter and welder. petri dish act like brain “Stem cells are a new paradigm,”

survival,” he says. He won a scholarship ‘won’t cancer stem cells,” Qui- says Quiñones. “Imagine a world

Quiñones’ pursuit of a cure for to the University of take no for ñones says. “We’re still where we know which cells are

brain cancer is marked by the same California, Berkeley. an answer. not sure that they actu- responsible for the cancer and we

grit and determination that have From there, he went He’s an ally behave that way in understand how they work—and

shaped every facet of his life. This on to medical school inspired the brain, but there is how to turn them off. That’s the

is a doctor, after all, whose life here at Harvard University. some very good data to world I want. If it’s there, we have

scientist. ’

began one cold, dark January night He became a citizen. suggest they do.” to find it.”

when, as a frightened 19-year-old, Now, his office walls The first evidence Paul Watson of Baltimore, who

he climbed a chainlink fence along at Hopkins are covered in awards. for brain cancer stem cells was lost his 19-year-old son, Aaron,

the border between Mexico and “This is a man who won’t take no for reported in a study published in to brain cancer last year, says this

the United States. The first time an answer,” says Henry Brem, M.D., 2004. Scientists in Canada iso- gifted surgeon with the warm, en-

he clambered over the fence he chair of neurosurgery at Hopkins. lated tumor cells with a genetic gaging manner “is a man of passion

was caught and sent back across “He’s an inspired scientist, and an mutation they believed identi- and great understanding. From the

the border. Just hours later he was extraordinarily hard-working one.” fied the cells as brain cancer stem moment we met him, he was there

back. This time he made it over Today, standard procedures for cells. When they injected 100 of for us, through three operations.”

and escaped into the night. brain tumors, like Kennedy’s, call these cells into the brains of mice, Despite the operations and the

An undocumented immigrant, for removing as much of the tumor the mice developed brain tumors. best treatment available, Aaron died

Quiñones spoke no English and had as possible, followed by radiation They also injected tens of thou- 18 months later, and Quiñones went

no job skills. He labored as a farm and chemo. But excising all the sands of other brain tumor cells to his young patient’s funeral.

worker in California. “One day a cancer lacing surrounding tissue without the mutation into mice— “Dr. Quiñones held my hand and

friend said to me, ‘You will always be is difficult, and 90 percent said that Aaron should not be dead,”

a migrant worker,’ and something in- of the tumors grow back. Watson says. “He said we have to

side me just snapped. I just couldn’t It may be, Quiñones says, find a cure for this disease.”









New Theories

And Therapies

The theory that adult stem cells in the Sen. Edward us something to work with.”

body may trigger brain cancer growth is Kennedy is One of the most exciting

battling an ag-

revolutionary, exciting—and still very much gressive form therapies in the pipeline in-

unproven. In the meantime, scientists say of brain cancer. volves using antibodies with

that genetic discoveries and other cancer isotopes that can be injected

research are now yielding new information into the tumor to deliver high

that may bring new therapies. doses of radiation from within.

Just two months ago, scientists working on the Cancer The treatment is in Phase III

Genome Atlas, a project funded by the National Institutes of clinical trials, Friedman says.

Health, released a genetic map of 20,000 genes in glioblastoma, Joachim Baehring, M.D., di-

the most common form of brain tumor and the kind diagnosed rector of the Yale Brain Tumor

in Sen. Edward Kennedy. Experts say the research uncovered a dozen Center in New Haven, Conn., says in the past 10 years he’s seen an “explo-

genetic pathways, or networks, of genes, which control the spread and sion” in the number of experimental drugs for brain cancer, from vaccines

growth of the tumor. to agents that target a tumor’s ability to grow new blood vessels. He says

“These pathways represent targets we can attack to damage the tumor,” while the stem cell theory is only a hypothesis, it’s still useful. Although

says Henry Friedman, M.D., co-deputy director of the Brain Tumor Center at scientists haven’t yet been able to identify the genetic changes in these

Duke University in Durham, N.C., where Kennedy was treated. “We already tumors, he says, “studying cancer cells that behave like stem cells gives

KEN CEDENO/CORBIS









have some drugs to attack some of these pathways, so this really gives us a promising focus for our genetic studies.”







24 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your Health Discoveries Brain Aerobics







Wintertime Blues 3 9 1

Do you feel low in

the cold, dark days of 8 5 6 7

winter? New research

explains why. Many 7 1 8

healthy people have

seasonal affective 7 4 2

Relief for disorder (SAD); they

Bad Knees feel depressed and

8 4 7

fatigued only in win-

Arthroscopic surgery

tertime. Now, Canadian scientists have concluded that

9 2 4

may be no better than

nonsurgical treatment SAD is a physiological problem, not a psychological one. 3 9 4

to relieve arthritic pain Researchers at the University of Toronto Centre for

in the knee, concludes a Addiction and Mental Health analyzed brain scans 6 1 5 8

study in the Sept. 11 is- done on 88 healthy volunteers from 1999 to 2003. They

sue of the New England found that levels of serotonin, a mood-adjusting chem- 9 7 8

Journal of Medicine. ical in the brain, were lower in autumn and winter than FROM SUDOKU TO EXERCISE YOUR MIND BY FRANK LONGO (AARP/STERLING, 2006)



Researchers treated in spring and summer. Because sunlight regulates a

178 people who had protein controlling serotonin levels, a lack of sunshine Sudoku

moderate to severe means less of the feel-good substance. Sudoku is a test of logic and patience. Fill in the grid so

chronic knee pain with Jeffrey Meyer, M.D., coauthor of the study, which was that the numbers 1 through 9 appear only once in every

both physical therapy reported in September’s Archives of General Psychiatry, horizontal row, every vertical column and every 3x3 mini-

and medications such as said in a statement that identifying the cause may ulti- box. Only one solution is possible.

ibuprofen or acetamin- mately help “prevent the illness itself.” —Roberta Yared

ophen; 86 participants

also had arthroscopic Parallel Thinking

surgery. After two years, both groups reported nearly the same Link the list of words below, alternating between fruits

levels of pain, disability and stiffness. and shapes. Each category should be in alphabetical

“Exercise, weight loss, physical therapy and over-the-counter order. The first four are APPLE, circle, BERRY, hexagon;

pain medications are first-line alternatives to surgery,” says the rest is up to you. This exercise works on your mental

John H. Wilckens, M.D., an orthopedist at Johns Hopkins Uni- flexibility, concentration and visual acuity.

versity School of Medicine. “Arthroscopy may provide some

End

benefit to a very select group.” —Nissa Simon

square triangle

Begin

The Scent of Roses for Rosy Dreams apple

mango

Smelling roses may give you pleasant dreams. On the other

hand, smell something stinky, and your dreams might be









CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: HOWARD J. WINTER/ZEFA/CORBIS; GETTY IMAGES; GETTY IMAGES

closer to nightmares. trapezoid lemon rhombus

In a small study in Germany, researchers gave 15 women a

whiff of roses or of rotten eggs or a nonscented whiff after

melon hexagon

they entered REM sleep, the stage at which dreams occur.

They waited one minute before waking the women, who

reported that roses led to dreams with a positive emotional circle plum berry

tone. The rotten eggs, however, had a negative effect.

The dreams were not about tastes or smells, said lead author Boris Stuck of the Uni-

versity Hospital Mannheim, who announced the findings in Chicago at a September rectangle strawberry

meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery.

“This study shows that odors are processed nonconsciously, which is for the most Answers See page 38.

part how we perceive them in everyday life,” says Johan Lundstrom of the Monell

For a greater mental workout, go to www.aarp.org/games,

Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. “Putting a few flowers in your bedroom will www.happyneuron.com or www.aarp.org/books.

give you a more joyful life.” —NS Play an interactive Sudoku at bulletin.aarp.org.





26 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your AARP





DISCOUNTS NO NEW STIMULUS



Adventure ahead

The new AARP Travel Center

Paulson Calls

powered by Expedia makes it easy For Patience

to book flights, hotels and rental

cars, as well as cruises and vacation A day before briefing President Bush’s

packages. There’s no airline booking

Cabinet on the administration’s finan-

fee for AARP members, and the ser-

vice offers exclusive deals on certain cial rescue plan, Treasury Secretary

hotel and car rental rates. Members Henry Paulson Jr. outlined the plan

who buy tickets at Expedia Local

Expert desks in Las Vegas, Orlando, for AARP’s board of directors, warn-

Fla., Hawaii, Mexico and other desti- ing that the current economic turmoil

nations also get discount admission

to theaters, theme parks and other would continue for some time. He also

attractions. For details and reserva- acknowledged the public reaction to

tions, visit www.expedia-aarp.com

or call 1-800-675-4318.

the initial steps in the bailout plan. “People are angry and frustrated, Henry Paulson

makes a point to

and rightfully so,” he said. Paulson also thanked AARP for sup- AARP CEO Bill Novelli

CALL TO ACTION porting congressional approval of the $700 billion rescue plan. At the and board chair Bon-

nie M. Cramer during

same time, he distanced himself from a second stimulus plan, saying a meeting at AARP

headquarters.

that he was focused instead on the coordinated effort to stabilize

world markets and the U.S. financial system. AARP supports the

general idea of a new round of spending and savings initiatives to

boost the slumping economy. But Paulson said that stabilizing the

Tell Congress to global market system was far more important than a new stimulus

Bring Real Relief plan. “What we’re doing here dwarfs that,” he said. —Jim Toedtman

To Main Street









CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: LOUIE PALU/ZUMA PRESS; COURTESY LT. COL. ANDY KAUFMANN; J WILDS/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES

You Can Help. Contact your mem- Volunteers Offer Help With Everyday Finances

W

bers of Congress. Go to www.aarp hen the woman was nearly now 95, with managing her finances. their everyday finances. The pro-

.org/realrelief or call 1-800-795-5336. evicted from her California “She had no one, no living relatives,” gram is available in 23 states, with

Although Congress took some ac- home, Jo Ann Lee stepped in. She Lee says. Lee, 63, volunteers with plans to reach all 50 states within five

tion to address our nation’s econom- helped her keep her house temporar- AARP Foundation’s Money Manage- years. Age and income requirements

ic crisis, too many Americans are still ily and later move into a nursing facil- ment Program to help low-income vary. For more information, visit www.

hurting. We’re calling on Congress ity. Lee has since assisted the woman, older adults and the disabled with aarpmmp.org. —Elizabeth N. Brown

to support a plan to bring real relief

to struggling Americans. We want

a plan that includes help for people

who have lost their jobs, homeown-

Big Response to Vacations for Vets

ers facing foreclosure, families who

need help putting food on the table, Readers have donated the use of dozens of vacation homes and thousands

savers who have seen dramatic of frequent flier miles since a story about Vacations for Veterans appeared in

losses in their retirement accounts, Lt. Col. Andy the October Bulletin [“Giving Vets a Little R&R”]. “This is the biggest response

and families on the verge of losing Kaufmann we’ve ever received,” says Peggy Carr, who, with her husband, Chris, pairs Purple Heart

their health care. enjoys a donated recipients with people willing to provide free stays at their vacation homes (www

vacation in

Please help. AARP urges you to Tamworth, N.H. .vacationsforveterans.org). Mike and Lynn Cashman of Seminole, Fla., offered their

contact your members of Congress condo. “It is a small token of our appreciation that we are able to donate a few weeks

and ask them to bring Americans the to those who serve our country,” Mike Cashman says. —Susan Q. Stranahan

real relief they need and deserve.





28 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your AARP Where We Stand SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLICATIONS Catherine Ventura-Merkel

EDITOR IN CHIEF & SENIOR VP, PUBLICATIONS Hugh Delehanty

GROUP PUBLISHER & VICE PRESIDENT Jim Fishman



By Bill Novelli, CEO VICE PRESIDENT, MANUFACTURING & DISTRIBUTION Traci L. Lucien



VICE PRESIDENT, CONTENT INTEGRATION Bernard Ohanian

GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR Carl Lehmann-Haupt





Bulletin

™





Now the Work Begins EDITOR AND VICE PRESIDENT James S. Toedtman

DEPUTY EDITOR Teo Furtado







D

DESIGN DIRECTOR Eric Seidman

o you remember The Candidate, the 1972 EXECUTIVE EDITORS Susan L. Crowley, Kim Keister, Carol Simons

movie with Robert Redford? Redford’s Economic MANAGING EDITOR Cathy Ginther

FEATURES EDITOR Barbranda Lumpkins Walls

character gets so caught up in a campaign for

the U.S. Senate that when he wins the election,

Crisis Hits SENIOR EDITORS Patricia Barry, Barbara Basler,

Carole Fleck, Trish Nicholson



he turns to his campaign manager and asks, Home MANAGER, EDITORIAL COPY Brian Miller

COPY EDITOR Don Beaulieu

“What do we do now?” SENIOR EDITORIAL RESEARCHER Roberta Yared

Foreclosures EDITORIAL RESEARCHER Corinne Hayward

I recently had a similar question from a dedi- * EDITORIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER Cathy L. Hall

have soared

cated Divided We Fail volunteer who has spent ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Cathy Kelley

over the past ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Anne Masters

many hours bird-dogging the candidates and PHOTO EDITOR Michael Wichita

three years;

engaging his friends and family on the issues ASSISTANT EDITOR Victoria Lemley

they reached SENIOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Nicole Williams

of health care reform and financial security. He INTERN Rebecca Kern

a record

said, “The election’s almost over, what are we monthly high

ONLINE DAILY NEWS EDITOR Tina Johnson-Marcel

ONLNE MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Nicole Shea

going to do then?” I told him, “That’s when the real work begins.” in August. ONLINE CONTENT PRODUCERS Elizabeth N. Brown, Douglas Van Sant

Through our Divided We Fail initiative, we and our allies have spent the ONLINE COPY EDITOR Elizabeth Whitehouse



last two years building a public demand for action and pressuring the can- * Total PRODUCTION MANAGER Brian S. Horting









2,203,295

number PRODUCTION COORDINATORS Roland A. Bland,

didates—presidential and congressional—for their commitment to mean- for 2008 Sherry Coleman, Judy Skilling

ingful, bipartisan action on our important issues. The 2008 election merely foreclosures QUALITY MANAGER Mel Baughman









2,034,508 through August

unknown. QUALITY ASSOCIATE Tabitha Brackens

marks the end of the first phase of our effort.

ADVERTISING POLICIES MANAGER Pamela Byrd Berard

Now, a new phase begins. We have to work hard to ensure that health care ADVERTISING POLICIES ANALYSTS Brenda Allen, Mireya G. Donahue

and financial security remain in the forefront and don’t get lost among all the DIR. OF PUBLICATIONS PLANNING & PROMOTION David Singleton

PLANNING & PROMOTIONS MANAGER Heather Nawrocki

issues that could be priorities of the new administration and Congress. Our ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Jane Ryan

efforts are all the more urgent because of the country’s economic crisis. EDITORIAL CONTRACTS MANAGER Amelia Jones

SENIOR MANAGER, MEDIA RELATIONS Michelle Alvarez

We also must hold the new president and all members of Congress ac- SENIOR RESEARCH ADVISER Earnestine Hargrove

countable, asking them to reaffirm their commitment to bipartisan action IT SUPPORT Consuela Allen, William Coulter, Matthew Haines,

Nono Kusuma, Bonnie Russell, Josh Singer

1,239,113





and to get to work developing legislation. We will need to mount a massive

GROUP ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Patricia A. Mondello

grassroots effort—online and on the ground—to remind our newly elected ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, ADVERTISING Shelagh Daly Miller

officials that our members, and all Americans, are paying attention and DIRECTOR, SPECIAL ACCOUNTS Ina Nordstrom

NEW YORK SALES MANAGER Peter Zeuschner

expecting action. TRAVEL CATEGORY MANAGER Patricia Slattery

846,982









Solutions come with tradeoffs and tough choices, and letting problems fester ACCOUNT MANAGERS Kelly Burke, Raquel Hagen,

Helen Holtzman, Michelle Weisfeld

is costly and unacceptable. We want you to join the national discussion on ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, MARKETING Patricia Lippe Davis

determining the solutions. What do we need to do to rein in soaring health MARKETING DIRECTOR Bonnie Maglio

RESEARCH DIRECTOR Mark Bradbury

care costs and make health insurance affordable for everyone? How can we ASSOC. DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED MARKETING & MERCH. Laurie Levitt

make it easier to save for retirement, and how will we make Social Security ASSOC. DIRECTOR, INTERACTIVE MARKETING Linda Tse Correia

ASSOC. DIRECTOR, MARKETING EVENTS & PROMOTION Shari Horowitz

solvent for our kids and grandkids? We need your point of view. PROMOTIONS MANAGER Lisa Van Dyne

As health and financial proposals are developed and ideas turn into leg- ADVERTISING BILLING ADMINISTRATOR Surfina Adams

ADVERTISING BILLING ASSOCIATE Tracey Fanuele

islation, AARP will be at the table helping shape both the policy and the ADVERTISING SERVICES ADMINISTRATOR Christine Merklinger

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ADVERTISING SERVICES COORDINATOR Lori Orser

approach to ensure commonsense bipartisan proposals. Our members and SENIOR OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Virginia Mazziotti

volunteers will be critical to the success of our efforts. Many powerful ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES

groups with substantial resources will be lined up to oppose change. NEW YORK Advertising Sales Office 646-521-2500









LEFT: MELANIE DUNEA/CPI; RIGHT: PETER DAZELEY/GETTY IMAGES

DETROIT Maiorana+Partners 248-546-2222

AARP doesn’t have a political action committee, nor do we support candi- MIDWEST Zoeller Media Sales 312-782-8855

dates or political parties. Instead, our power resides in our members and our ATLANTA McLaughlin Media Mix 770-888-2212

FLORIDA McLaughlin Media Mix 561-844-6336

committed activists in every state. We’ll need to demonstrate that power dur- SOUTHWEST Carol Orr & Co. 214-521-6116

ing this critical period. Partisanship in Washington isn’t going to just evapo- WEST COAST PPW Sales Group 415-543-5001

CANADA York Media 613-832-0576

rate. We need to break through the gridlock that has plagued our political DIRECT RESPONSE Adriana Associates 212-719-5952

leaders and demand meaningful change that will benefit all generations. Questions about your membership, change of address,

What do we do now? We get moving. We lead. We help find practical so- member services? Call AARP’s Member Contact Center

1-888-687-2277 (TTY [877] 434-7589)

lutions to bring all Americans high-quality, affordable health care and fi- or e-mail member@aarp.org

nancial security for their lifetimes. Please get involved. Start by going to SOURCE: REALTYTRAC INC. FROM FIRST NOTICES TO



DividedWeFail.org. Together we can get it done. EVICTION/REPOSSESSION









30 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your AARP

Your Health State News

Improving long-term care and coordinating public transit







DatabankUSA North Dakota

On the bus The 2009 legisla-

tive session begins in January, and

AARP North Dakota is pushing

for two pilot projects to improve

transportation resources for

residents. The aim is to streamline

transit services—beginning with

those that are publicly funded—

to avoid duplicated routes and

half-empty buses. “Our goal is

for North Dakota eventually to

have a transit system, rather than

a hodgepodge of uncoordinated

programs,” says Linda Wurtz,

1 AARP associate state director

2 for advocacy. A strong public

3 transportation system would al-

4 low aging citizens to stay mobile

5-8

and continue to live where they

9-21

choose, even in rural areas. To

Rest in Peace The number of federal and SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT

support the projects, contact your

state-run veterans cemeteries in each state, D.C. and Puerto Rico OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

legislator at www.legis.nd.gov.





Kansas South Dakota Oklahoma

Call to action AARP Kansas is Need for choice With the 2009 legislative session set to begin in Power in numbers AARP

seeking volunteers for its Diver- January, AARP South Dakota is pressing for more alternatives in long- Oklahoma is looking for 10 volun-

sity Council, Executive Council term care. In addition to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, teers from each of the state’s 77

and advocacy team. “We are South Dakotans need in-home services such as help with bathing and counties to join its new 770 Team.

particularly looking for repre- dressing, and community-based services such as adult day care at The team will work on such is-

sentatives of the state’s American senior centers. Moreover, advocates say, state residents need access to sues as long-term care and utility

Indian population and people of a full range of services, even if they live in remote, rural areas. The costs, and will help inform fellow

diverse economic backgrounds state Health Care Commission’s long-term care subcommittee, which Oklahomans about national issues

to serve on the Diversity Council, includes an AARP representative, will soon release recommendations affecting Americans age 50-plus.

which brings different perspec- for revamping the system. The subcommittee’s report is expected to Monthly activities may include

tives to discussions of AARP underscore the need to expand resources and to establish a single traveling to town hall meetings, go-

issues,” says Maren Turner, AARP place where South Dakotans could learn about all their options. To ing to the polls, making telephone

state director. Diversity Council help push for such a system, call AARP at 1-866-542-8172 toll free. calls or writing letters to the editor.

members take listening tours The activities are part of Divided

across Kansas to gain insights We Fail, a national effort encourag-

on issues important to the state’s Wyoming ing elected officials to work across

375,000 AARP members. Also Know your options With open enrollment for Medicare pre- party lines for affordable health

needed are volunteers to serve scription drug plans under way Nov. 15 to Dec. 31, AARP Wyoming is care and lifelong financial security

on the Executive Council—which encouraging members to schedule a free, one-on-one consultation to for all Americans. To volunteer,

guides AARP state activities in the assess which plan would best meet their needs. Insurance plans and e-mail aarpok@aarp.org or call

areas of health, financial security individuals’ needs can change, so a plan that worked well in 2008 may 405-715-4477.

and livable communities—or as not be best in 2009. Volunteers trained by the Wyoming Senior Health —Reports by Michelle R. Davis

advocates to communicate with Insurance Information Program (WSHIIP) can provide analysis and

STEVE RABIN/ISTOCKPHOTO









legislators about issues important recommendations. To make an appointment, call 1-800-856-4398 or For other state news, go to

to older Kansans. To volunteer, visit www.wyomingseniors.com/wshiip.htm. Visit www.medicare.gov

bulletin.aarp.org/states/

call 1-866-448-3619 toll free. to see descriptions of plans available in Wyoming.



32 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your AARP

Your Health State News

Keeping people safe, warm and cared for in the Mid-Atlantic







DatabankUSA West Virginia

Ageless workplaces In the

state with the nation’s second-

oldest working population, AARP

West Virginia is encouraging

employers to take advantage of

an online tool designed to help

build “age-friendly” workplaces.

AARP’s Workforce Assessment

Tool—www.aarp.org/workforce

assessment—generates a free,

confidential report that maps out

current employment practices,

outlines areas for improvement

and recommends ways to build a

1 business that appeals to workers

2 of all ages. In 2006 the median

3 age of West Virginia workers was

4 40.7, second only to Maine at

5-8

41, according to the U.S. Census

9-21

Bureau. Almost 300,000 West Vir-

Rest in Peace The number of federal and SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT

ginia workers are now 45 or older.

state-run veterans cemeteries in each state, D.C. and Puerto Rico OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Nationwide, nearly one in three

workers is expected to be 50-plus

by 2014.

New Jersey District of Columbia

Quell the shivers AARP New Answers under one roof The District’s new Aging and Disabili-

Jersey is calling for more funding ties Resource Center provides “one-stop shopping” for services that Pennsylvania

for the state’s energy assistance help people remain in their own homes as they age. According to an Brighten spirits AARP Penn-

program to help people on fixed AARP study, 90 percent of D.C. residents want to age in place. AARP sylvania is encouraging Pittsburgh-

incomes and those experienc- advocated for establishment of the center, which was launched in area members to “adopt” a nursing

ing financial emergencies to stay July, to lift barriers to receiving long-term care services at home. The home resident for the holidays.

warm this winter. As heating costs center offers information and referrals to medical, legal, housing and From now through December,

continue to rise, federal and state transportation assistance as well as caregiver support. Visit the center AARP volunteers will visit more

energy assistance programs cannot at 1134 11th St., N.W.; call 202-724-5626; or log onto www.adrcdc.org. than 1,500 residents in Allegheny,

meet growing needs with current AARP DC is collecting stories to find out what’s good about the cen- Washington and Westmoreland

funding, says Jim Dieterle, AARP ter and how it can be improved. To share an experience, call 202-434- counties to deliver gifts donated by

state director. The monthly 6636 or e-mail dcaarp@aarp.org. local chapters and members. Now

income limits for the federal pro- in its seventh year, the volunteer-

gram are $1,517 for an individual run program, developed in coop-

and $2,042 for a couple; call 1-800- Delaware eration with St. Barnabas Chari-

510-3102 to apply. New Jersey On alert The state’s Gold Alert system—which notifies authori- ties, has grown steadily. AARP

Statewide Heating Assistance ties when a vulnerable adult goes missing—is now up and running. members or chapters interested in

and Referral for Energy Services Modeled after the Amber Alert system for missing and endangered volunteering for the 2008 Presents

(NJ SHARES) traditionally has children, the system outlines protocols for state law enforcement for Patients project should call the

filled the gap for people who don’t officers and involves social service agencies in the initial search for state office at 1-866-389-5654 toll

qualify for federal assistance but a missing person who is age 60 or older, has a disability or is at risk free or visit aarp.org/pa.

can’t pay their heating bills; call of suicide. AARP Delaware supported the legislation that created —Reports by Donya Currie

1-866-657-4273 toll free to apply. the system and is now spreading the word to caregivers to report a

STEVE RABIN/ISTOCKPHOTO









To urge Gov. Jon Corzine, D, missing person as early as possible. Gold Alerts are issued by a law For other state news, go to

to support more funding for NJ enforcement agency and can be local, regional or statewide. To re-

bulletin.aarp.org/states/

SHARES, call 609-292-6000. port a missing person, call 911.



32 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your AARP

Your Health State News

Ensuring meal delivery and preserving assets in the Midwest







DatabankUSA Missouri

Consumer beware AARP

Missouri has joined a statewide

committee to review laws govern-

ing contracts for funeral services

arranged prior to death. Last

summer state Attorney General Jay

Nixon, D, sued a seller of so-called

pre-need funeral plans for allegedly

keeping more of buyers’ money

than allowed by state law and com-

mingling funds with a company

previously barred from selling such

plans in Missouri. The lawsuit also

claimed the defendant used cus-

1 tomers’ money to buy renewable

2 term life insurance policies and

3 missed payments on the premiums.

4 While many reputable firms

5-8

sell prearranged funerals, there

9-21

also are con artists who take your

Rest in Peace The number of federal and SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT

money, never intending to provide

state-run veterans cemeteries in each state, D.C. and Puerto Rico OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

any service. To report questionable

practices, call the Attorney Gen-

eral’s Office at 1-800-392-8222 (in

Ohio Illinois state) or 573-751-3321 (out of state).

Sustaining services As Helping boomers keep their kids insured With the legisla-

gasoline and food prices rise, ture’s approval, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, D, amended a new law to boost

agencies that provide services age limits for young adults to remain on their parents’ health plans. Iowa

such as home-delivered meals are AARP Illinois supported the measure as a step toward better access to Homes for all ages AARP

struggling to meet the need. AARP health care. Beginning next year, families will have the opportunity Iowa and the National Associa-

Ohio is asking members to share to add dependents up to age 26 to their health insurance policies—or tion of Home Builders recently

stories that can bolster the fight to up to age 30 for veterans, who can join their parents’ plan six months sponsored training for contractors

protect in-home services. “We after their release from active duty. Previously, insurance companies to become certified aging-in-place

would love to hear your personal set age limits for dependents on a policy-by-policy basis, often making specialists (CAPS). In a recent

story about what these services, it hard for parents to extend coverage to family members just starting AARP survey, almost 95 percent of

or lack of them, have meant to you their careers. In Illinois more than 300,000 people between the ages Iowa members said they want to

and your family,” says Jane Taylor, of 19 and 25 are uninsured, making up the fastest-growing segment of age in their own homes. Yet many

AARP Ohio state director. Meals the population without health insurance. homes in Iowa and elsewhere were

on Wheels America recently found not built to accommodate aging

that 56 percent of its member in place, and few local builders or

agencies have lost volunteers be- Kentucky contractors know how to trans-

cause of increasing gas prices, and Protecting assets Under a new program administered by the form houses to make them easy to

almost half (48 percent) have had state Department of Insurance, residents who buy certain long-term live in at any age. To find the list

to eliminate some meal delivery care insurance policies may be able to qualify for Medicaid without of newly trained CAPS contractors,

routes. In Ohio alone, more than exhausting their assets. AARP Kentucky is working with the state or to get tips on modifying your

1 million meals are delivered to to roll out the program and inform residents. “As Kentuckians struggle home, go to www.aarp.org/ia.

homebound people every month. to adequately prepare for retirement and their long-term care needs, —Reports by Will Yandik

To share your story, e-mail this plan may offer them a chance to protect their assets,” says Karen

STEVE RABIN/ISTOCKPHOTO









ohaarp@aarp.org or write to AARP Cassidy, AARP state president. To find out if the Long-Term Care For other state news, go to

Ohio, 17 S. High St., Suite 800, Partnership Insurance Program is right for you, visit doi.ppr

bulletin.aarp.org/states/

Columbus, OH 43215. .ky.gov/kentucky or call the Insurance Department at 1-800-595-6053.



32 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your AARP

Your Health State News

Strengthening families and protecting investors in the Northeast







DatabankUSA Connecticut

Stay warm With energy costs

on the rise, AARP Connecticut

is encouraging people who may

have a hard time paying their

heating bills this winter to apply

for assistance before the weather

gets colder. Gov. M. Jodi

Rell, R, and the legislature have

dedicated more than $28 million

from last year’s budget surplus to

bolster home heating assistance

programs for low- and middle-

income households and the

elderly. Older adults with annual

1 income up to $48,787 (for singles)

2 or $63,798 (couples) are eligible

3 to apply. (Income thresholds for

4 two other categories—family and

5-8

household assistance—may dif-

9-21

fer.) For more information, call

Rest in Peace The number of federal and SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT

the state Infoline at 211 or go to

state-run veterans cemeteries in each state, D.C. and Puerto Rico OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

www.aarp.org/ct.





New York New Hampshire Maine

Rights of kin As part of the Protecting investors Beginning Jan. 1, financial advisers in New College funds Grandparents of

New York State Kincare Coalition, Hampshire who claim to have expertise in helping older investors will infants born in Maine in 2009 can

AARP New York advocated for two be prohibited from using misleading titles or false credentials. Under open a college investment account

new laws that could make it easier a new state law supported by AARP, financial advisers will not be able for the child with a $500 gift from

for grandparents to keep their to say they have special training to advise retirees or people nearing the Alfond Scholarship Founda-

grandchildren out of the foster care retirement without certification from a recognized accrediting agency. tion. AARP Maine encourages

system. An amendment to the New Hampshire is the first state in the nation to adopt such standards. members to consider the oppor-

Family Court Act makes it easier “This legislation sends a strong message that New Hampshire will tunity. The Finance Authority

for judges to place children under not stand for dishonest sales practices—particularly those that prey on of Maine, which will manage the

the care of a family member—with- seniors,” says Mark Connolly, director of the state Bureau of Securities accounts, will send applications

out judicial oversight—instead of in Regulation. to all mothers of infants born after

foster care. Previously, the law was Jan. 1, 2009. Parents or grand-

unclear on when judges could use parents may (but do not have to)

private custody once neglect pro- Massachusetts continue to invest in the plan. The

ceedings began. The other new Choosing where to receive care More than 5,000 older or balance earns interest and could

law allows grandparents or other disabled Bay Staters would be newly eligible for services that could grow substantially by the time the

relatives to become a child’s per- help them continue to live at home—rather than moving into nursing child reaches college age, espe-

manent guardian, giving them the homes—if the federal government accepts the state’s request to change cially if the $500 gift is matched by

rights granted in adoption, without Medicaid rules. The new rules would extend home- and commu- monthly contributions. To learn

having to change the child’s name. nity-based services to state residents with up to $10,000 worth of more, visit www.famemaine.com

This law is expected to make it assets (excluding their homes and cars) and about $23,000 in annual or call 1-800-228-3734.

easier for kin caregivers to enroll income—up from the current limits of $2,000 in assets and $10,400 —Reports by Will Yandik

children in school and access their in income. The expanded coverage would allow some nursing home

STEVE RABIN/ISTOCKPHOTO









birth certificates and medical re- residents to go home and some people on the verge of needing care to For other state news, go to

cords. For more information, go remain in their own homes. AARP Massachusetts supports the new

bulletin.aarp.org/states/

to www.aarp.org/ny. rules, which are expected to take effect after April 2009.



32 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your AARP

Your Health State News

Improving health records and protecting investors in the Southeast







DatabankUSA Florida

No free lunch This fall AARP

Florida met with the Financial In-

dustry Regulatory Authority and

Florida Chief Financial Officer

Alex Sink, D, to discuss ways to

crack down on investment scams

and help Floridians age 50-plus

make sound investment decisions.

Of key concern are investment

seminars that prey on people’s

fears and pitch unsuitable invest-

ment products by falsely promis-

ing low risk and high yield. AARP

urges members to beware of semi-

1 nars hawking such products as

2 variable annuities that carry high

3 sales commissions and surren-

4 der penalties. To learn how to

5-8

become a No Free Lunch monitor

9-21

and spread the word about invest-

Rest in Peace The number of federal and SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT

ment pitfalls, visit www.aarp.org/

state-run veterans cemeteries in each state, D.C. and Puerto Rico OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

fl. For more information, go to

www.aarp.org/nofreelunch.



Arkansas South Carolina

Closing shop Payday loan Personal records, all in one place To encourage the use of Tennessee

company Advance America has an- electronic health care records, which would cut down on medical Make the call AARP Tennes-

nounced that it plans to close all 30 errors, AARP South Carolina is urging state residents to sign up for see is seeking volunteers who are

of its Arkansas stores by November. My Personal Health Record, a pilot project launched by the federal passionate about what happens to

Since 2006, 140 payday lending Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. As of September, 2,700 Medicare and Social Security in

stores have ceased making such people had registered, giving them free Web access to the previous 24 the hands of a new Congress. Ad-

loans—which often carry triple- months of their Medicare records, including information about medi- vocacy volunteers also will speak

digit interest rates—in Arkansas. cal conditions, hospitalizations and doctor visits. Users can enter their out about other issues important

In March, after the state attorney own information as well, including notes about medications, allergies to Tennesseans age 50-plus,

general ordered 156 payday lend- and services they’ve received. State residents with Medicare Part A such as expanding choices for

ers to cease making and collecting or B can sign up for the project at www.myphrsc.com. To learn more, long-term care, ensuring lifelong

high-interest loans, many closed, e-mail questions@myphrsc.com or call 1-888-697-4772 toll free. financial security for all Ameri-

but the Advance America stores cans and making communities

continued to operate under a dif- more livable. The state office

ferent business model. The State Alabama particularly needs people who

Board of Collection Agencies, On the job Attendance at AARP Alabama-sponsored job fairs for can pick up the phone and get

which regulates payday lenders workers age 50-plus has more than doubled in recent months, point- their U.S. senators and represen-

in Arkansas, recently notified the ing both to a tough economy and the willingness of older workers to tatives on the line. To volunteer,

company that it was still violating stay in or reenter the workforce. The unemployment rate in Ala- visit www.aarp.org/community/

the law. AARP Arkansas is part bama rose from 3.6 percent in 2007 to 5.1 percent in 2008, echoing a groups/tennesseeadvocacy or call

of Arkansans Against Abusive Pay- national rise from 4.7 percent to 6.1 percent. Meanwhile, the only seg- 1-866-295-7274 toll free.

day Lending, a broad-based coali- ment of Alabama’s working-age population expected to grow between —Reports by Donya Currie

tion that has released five reports 2005 and 2015 is workers age 55 and older, according to U.S. Census

STEVE RABIN/ISTOCKPHOTO









critical of the industry in two years. Bureau projections. For more work and career information, from For other state news, go to

For more on this issue, visit www pros and cons of Internet job searches to how working affects Social

bulletin.aarp.org/states/

.stoppaydaypredators.org. Security benefits, visit www.aarp.org/aljobs.



32 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Your AARP

Your Health State News

Protecting credit and preserving communities in the West







DatabankUSA Idaho

Losing ground Since 2001,

about 1,300 households in manu-

factured homes in Ada County have

been forced to move when the land

they leased was sold. Many who

want to relocate face long waiting

lists for other land-leasing options.

Owners who can’t move within 180

days, as required by state law, must

pay nearly $5,000 to demolish their

homes. AARP Idaho is working

with manufactured-home commu-

nities, faith-based groups and Legal

Aid to urge cities to place morato-

1 riums on sales of manufactured-

2 home parks; to research ways for

3 residents to purchase parks; and to

4 develop lease-hold rights legisla-

5-8

tion. “We’re asking elected officials

9-21

to find ways to preserve these com-

Rest in Peace The number of federal and SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT

munities,” says Jim Wordelman,

state-run veterans cemeteries in each state, D.C. and Puerto Rico OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

AARP state director. To learn more,

visit www.aarp.org/id.



Hawaii Washington

Rx dilemmas In a recent Freeze for all Under a law that took effect Sept. 1, all state residents Montana

AARP survey, nearly four out of can freeze their credit reports. Previously, only identity theft victims Clamor for reform With the

five Hawaii residents age 50 and were eligible. With a security freeze in effect, a credit bureau is barred legislature set to convene in Janu-

older said they purchased at least from sending your financial history and credit score to a potential credi- ary, AARP Montana is priming the

one prescription drug in the last tor, making it nearly impossible for an identity thief to open an account pump for health care reform by

12 months, and nearly four in 10 in your name. When you want to apply for credit, you can use a personal cohosting a conference on health

reported spending at least $50 on identification number, or PIN, to temporarily lift the freeze. To place care issues Nov. 20–21 in Helena.

medications in one month. One a freeze, send a letter and documents proving your identity to the three Planners hope the event will

in 10 said the high cost of drugs led credit-reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The stimulate legislative action.

to dilemmas such as delaying or service is free for Washingtonians age 65 and older. Those younger than T.R. Reid, host of the PBS special

not filling a prescription; taking a 65 must pay $10 per agency. Fees to lift a freeze vary by agency. For more “Sick Around the World,” will be

smaller dosage than prescribed; or information, go to www.atg.wa.gov or call the AARP Fraud Fighter Call the keynote speaker. In addition,

cutting back on food, gasoline or Center at 1-800-646-2283. attendees will get an overview of

utilities. Meanwhile, the state prospective health care legislation

Department of Human Services in 2009 from the office of U.S. Sen.

has done little to comply with a Oregon Max Baucus, D. To register for

2007 law requiring it to negoti- Embracing diversity With the state’s 50-plus population grow- the conference, which costs $100,

ate with drug manufacturers for ing rapidly and increasingly diverse, AARP Oregon is hosting a summit go to www.montanahealthcare

lower prices. AARP Hawaii is to focus on diversity and aging. Slated for Nov. 17 in Portland, the event forum.com or call 1-888-442-6668

working with the Kokua Council, will explore how issues such as health and long-term care, economic toll free. For scholarship informa-

the Hawaii Alliance of Retired security and livable communities affect diverse populations in different tion, call 406-457-4705.

Americans and other advocacy ways as they age. “Sometimes the problem is not so much availability —Reports by Donnan Runkel

groups for older state residents to of services as accessibility, due to language or cultural barriers,” says

STEVE RABIN/ISTOCKPHOTO









keep the issue on the front burner. Bandana Shrestha, AARP Oregon’s director of community engagement. For other state news, go to

For more survey results, visit To register for the free event, call 1-877-926-8300 toll free. To request

bulletin.aarp.org/states/

www.aarp.org/hawaii_rx. a set of conference materials, e-mail oraarp@aarp.org.



32 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation of the AARP Bulletin (Publication no. 1044-1123).Frequency of issue: 10 times per



Ask the Experts Your AARP year, Jan/Feb and July/Aug combined (2007, 11 issues; 2008, 10 issues). Annual membership dues of $12.50 include $2.09 for subscription to

the AARP Bulletin.

Owner and publisher: Cathy Ventura Merkel, AARP, 601 E St. N.W., Washington, DC 20049. Jim Toedtman, Editor; Cathy Ginther, Managing

Editor. Bondholders, mortgagees, other security holders: None. The purpose and function and nonprofit status of this organization and the

exempt status for federal income tax purposes have not changed during preceding 12 months.

Average no. copies No. copies of single

each issue during issue published

preceding 12 months nearest to filing date

A. Total no. copies (net press run) 24,297,575 24,605,461

B. 1. Mailed outside-county paid subscriptions

stated on PS Form 3541 24,219,331 24,528,461

2. Mailed in-county paid subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541 none none

3. Paid distribution outside the mails including sales through dealers and

carriers, street vendors, counter sales and other paid distribution outside USPS 15,203 15,069

4. Paid distribution by other classes of mail through the USPS none none

C. Total paid distribution (sum B1, B2, B3, B4) 24,234,534 24,543,530



Q I retired two years ago from

a major publishing compa-

D. Free or nominal rate distribution by mail and outside mail

1. Free or nominal rate outside-county copies included on PS Form 3541

2. Free or nominal rate in-county copies included on PS Form 3541

5,906

none

5,689

none

ny, where I worked for 39 years. 3. Free or nominal rate copies mailed at other clasess through USPS none none

4 Free or nominal rate outside the mail 26,465 25.180

I’ve been informed that the E. Total free or nominal rate distribution (sum D1, D2, D3, D4) 30,371 30,869

F. Total distribution (sum C and E) 24,266,905 24,574,399

company plans to discontinue G Copies not distributed 30,670 31,062

the medical benefits it prom- H. Total (sum F and G) 24,297,575 24,605,461

I. Total (sum of G and H) 24,294,575 24,605,461

ised to my wife and me. I am 70 J. Percent paid 99.87% 99.873%

and my wife is 68. Do we have I certify that all information furnished is true and complete, Traci L. Lucien, VP, Publications Operations



any recourse?





A

If you were promised lifetime

retiree health benefits, then

generally speaking, your employer

cannot terminate them. However,

most employers in their plan documents reserve the right to terminate

retiree health benefits. In that case, you have no recourse.

Review your written plan documents, letters or other information pro-

vided by your employer to see whether your employer promised lifetime

benefits or reserved the right to terminate the plan.

For more on employers’ rights to terminate retiree health plans, go

online to the Department of Labor at www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/

retiree_health_benefits.html.





Q My husband is 62 and has colon cancer. The doctors say he may

not live much longer. I am 61 and don’t work. If he passes, can I

draw on his Social Security, and how much can I expect to get?





A Generally, a surviving spouse can collect benefits as early as age

60. However, if you start collecting before your full retirement age

of 66, the amount would be reduced. If you choose to get survivor ben-

efits at age 62, you would receive 81 percent of the full benefit amount.

To see how your age affects your benefit amount, go to the chart on

the Social Security Administration website at www.socialsecurity.gov/

survivorplan/1945s.html.





Q I have a 401(k) retirement savings plan from a previous

employer and a 403(b) from a current employer. I am in the

process of changing jobs in the next six weeks. Can I roll both into a

new 401(k) sponsored by my new employer?





A Yes, you can roll both plans into your new 401(k) as long as each of

the plans permits that. Check with your new employer, your cur-

rent employer and the documents of the old 401(k) plan for guidance.

At one time, you could not have rolled over the 403(b), but that re-

striction has been dropped.

For more information on retirement account rollovers, see IRS Publi-

cation 575, “Pension and Annuity Income,” at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/

p575.pdf. —Carole Fleck

MARK ZINGARELLI









Experts: John Turner on retiree health care and 401(k)s; Social Security Administration on survivor benefits.

Send your questions to: Ask the Experts, AARP Bulletin, 601 E St. N.W., Washington, DC 20049, or e-mail

askourexperts@aarp.org. Check out bulletin.aarp.org for previously asked questions and answers.







NOVEMBER 2008 AARP BULLETIN 33

Your AARP The Law

By Emily Sachar









The issue: Can a company fire an employee

for taking medical leave?



In 2002, Martha Bryant, 56, found coverage and to return to work at

out that she had high blood pres- the end of the leave period.

sure, type 2 diabetes and a heart “It’s critically important that the

condition. Two years later the courts enforce employees’ rights

Nashville, Tenn., resident took to take family or medical leave if

eight days of unpaid medical leave jobs are not to be held hostage to

to deal with her health problems. employer retaliation for exercising

Four days after returning to work, statutory rights,” says Jay Sushel-

she was fired from her job as a se- sky, senior attorney for the AARP

nior programmer analyst for Dol- Foundation.

lar General Corp. Dollar General argued that it

Bryant filed a lawsuit in the U.S. had not interfered with Bry-

District Court for the Middle Dis- ant’s right to take the leave, but

trict in Tennessee, claiming that fired her for her involvement in

a workplace argument the

preceding month.

Neither court accepted

that reasoning. For one

thing, Bryant had per-

formed well in her job

from 2001 to 2004, when

she took her medical leave.

For another, a Dollar Gen-

eral supervisor told her,

“Because of your health,

I don’t think you can do

the job.”

The jury awarded Bryant

The FMLA was enacted to $73,943 in damages for unlaw-

allow employees at large ful retaliation and an additional

companies to take up to 12 $73,943 in other damages.

weeks off every 12 months She has yet to collect because,

to care for themselves or a her lawyer said, Dollar General

family member. intends to appeal the case to the

U.S. Supreme Court.

the company had violated the

Family and Medical Leave Act in What it means to you:

firing her. She won. Dollar Gen- If you face difficulties taking a

eral appealed to the Sixth Circuit family or medical leave at your

Court of Appeals, and AARP filed a company, consult the human re-

friend of the court brief in support sources office. If you are fired for

of Bryant. Bryant won again. taking a leave, or fear you will be,

The FMLA was enacted in 1993 consult a lawyer. Some lawyers

to allow employees at large com- will take such cases on a contin-

panies to take up to 12 weeks off gency basis, meaning they collect

every 12 months to care for them- a fee only if you win the case.

selves or a family member. The

statute protects the employee’s Emily Sachar is a journalist and

right to continue health insurance author based in Brooklyn, N.Y.

JON KRAUSE









34 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

In the Know Opinion

You can take some simple steps to avoid infection







A Hospital Germ on the Warpath By Betsy McCaughey









G

race Voros was 85 and enjoying life, One study reported that 39 percent of medical personnel

watching her family grow and taking ro- didn’t know that C. diff could be spread on stethoscopes,

mantic walks with the man she fell in love blood pressure cuffs and other equipment. About two-

with 61 years ago, when she took a minor fall. She thirds of medical staff were unaware they should clean

went to the hospital for an x-ray, where tests con- their hands with soap and water, because alcohol sanitiz-

firmed she had no broken bones. But while there, ers don’t kill this superbug.

she contracted an infection no one in the family What can you do to protect yourself? Insist that everyone

had ever heard about, “C. diff,” and died. treating you clean their hands before touching you.

C. diff, short for Clostridium difficile, is raging Clean your own hands thoroughly before eating. Do not

through hospitals, infecting hundreds of touch your hands to your lips. Do not place your food or uten-

thousands of patients a year. The bacteria sils on any surface except your plate. Ask family to bring wipes

contaminate every surface, including bed After routine containing bleach to clean the items around your bed.

rails, bed tables, nurses’ uniforms, privacy cleaning, 78% When you leave the hospital, assume any belongings you bring home

curtains, faucets and call buttons. When of surfaces are contaminated. Do not mix clothes from the hospital with the family

patients touch these surfaces and then pick were still wash; wash with bleach. Regular laundry detergents do not kill C. diff.

up food without washing their hands, they If you are visiting someone in the hospital, be careful about eating in

ingest the germ. Any patient taking anti-

contaminated. the cafeteria or a restaurant where the staff go in their scrubs or uni-

biotics who ingests C. diff is in danger of forms. These uniforms could be covered in invisible superbugs. More

developing severe diarrhea, leading to dehydration, inflammation of than 20 percent of nurses’ uniforms had C. diff on them at the end of a

the colon and even death. workday, according to one study. Imagine sliding into a restaurant booth

Routine cleaning isn’t enough to protect you from C. diff. Researchers after a nurse has left the germ on the table or the seat. You could easily

at Case Western Reserve and the Cleveland VA Medical Center found pick it up on your hands and then ingest it with your sandwich.

that after routine cleaning at a hospital, 78 percent of surfaces were still Poor hospital hygiene and lax practices such as wearing scrubs in pub-

contaminated. To kill the germ, you need to use bleach. lic are putting all of us at risk. That’s why I founded RID, the Commit-

When surfaces are not properly disinfected, the results can be deadly. tee to Reduce Infection Deaths, so that other families won’t have to go

At Thomas Jefferson Medical Center in Philadelphia, three consecutive through what Grace Voros’ family suffered.

patients occupying the same room came down with C. diff. One died.

Staffs at many U.S. hospitals are woefully uninformed about what to do. Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York.



WHAT I REALLY KNOW









I

About Making Ends Meet By Helen Grippo, Raleigh, N.C.









TOP: BRAND NEW IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES; BOTTOM: COKE WHITWORTH/AURORA SELECT

still remember the sound of a dime drop- had only finished the third grade, Kat, Dick Tracy, Tillie the Toiler

ping into the little glass hen that sat atop Mother the eighth. and on and on and over and over

our icebox. On Saturday mornings, two of my When the streetlights came on, again. How we all enjoyed the

brothers and I met in the kitchen to ask if Dad Dad retrieved the dime and handed comics! The paper was our only

could spare a dime. When he could, he held up it to my brothers and me. We raced reading material, and from it we

the coin and studied it, probably thinking that outside and sat on the curb until children learned the importance

10 cents might be better used for food. When the words “Sunday morning Post- of reading, listening and getting a

the dime clinked into the glass hen, we children Globe pa-per” began to echo again good education. We learned be-

could hardly wait until evening to spend it. and again. Finally the newsboy stopped near cause our parents somehow managed to make

Baby brother made us a family of six, and we us, and we paid our dime for the paper. ends meet—with a dime to spare.

seldom had money for extras. Dad worked in Back inside, my brothers and I sat on the floor

YOUR TURN! Tell us what you really know

a steel mill, and Mother sewed for neighbors. and quickly leafed through the paper to the about the first snow. E-mail your essay of up to 400

They struggled to clothe and feed us but had a comics. Mother and Dad and baby sat on the words to whatiknow@aarp.org. Or mail it to “What I Really

lot to say about getting a good education. Dad couch. I had the honor of reading aloud Krazy Know,” AARP Bulletin, 601 E St. N.W., Washington, DC 20049.







36 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Letters In the Know







High-priced drugs ...

The juxtaposition of the presi-

dential candidates’ positions

on the question of health care

[“Your Issues, Their Words,”

October] and the article about

“Million-Dollar Medicines”

revealed what is missing in the

health care debate. Instead of

policies based on subsidizing

the price of drugs, policies should be explored to subsidize

research and development for specialty drugs.

The article points out that speciality drugs account for

“about 25 percent of all money spent on drugs in this country,”

their costs are expected to rise to “$99 billion in 2010,” and

in two years half of all drugs approved by the Food and Drug

Administration will be specialty drugs. Meanwhile, the in-

dustry says that their high prices reflect the high cost of R&D.

If the federal government can subsidize the auto industry

to retool, certainly we should consider drug industry policies

that might be more cost-effective at the front end rather than

at the end point. —Nancy Bushwick-Malloy, BETHESDA, MD.



... And the cost of care ($30 for the office visit, $7.50

I retired five years ago. I have to draw my blood and $17.50

had the prostate-specific anti- for the lab analysis). I am very

gen test annually for the past grateful to my doctor.

13 years. Since I retired, I have Jeff Rohr

had at least a $2,000 deductible SALESVILLE, OHIO

(or more) on my health insur-

ance. The PSA testing cost me An oil slip?

approximately $260 ($60 to my In “ ‘Drake’s Folly’ Becomes

doctor’s office and $200 to the Washington’s Folly,” the editor

hospital where my blood was started out by reporting three

drawn and analyzed). things: (1) Since 1975 U.S. energy

This year I asked my doctor consumption has grown 40 per-

to draw my blood in his office cent; (2) while U.S. oil production

to save money. We discussed has dropped 32 percent, (3) oil

that my insurance plan does imports have more than doubled.

not cover lab work. He offered Then he went on to talk about

a discount if he could bill me political gridlock in Washington.

directly and not file with my in- I wish the author had re-

surance company. By not using searched and reported to us

my insurance, I paid only $55 what laws and regulations were

C.J. BURTON









NOVEMBER 2008 AARP BULLETIN 37

In the Know



passed—prior to and since

1975—that hampered oil com-

panies from producing enough

to keep up with our growing

consumption.

Ira E. Meadows

ST. LOUIS



CORRECTIONS

Ask the Experts incorrectly

told a 62-year-old woman that

she could start receiving Social

Security benefits based on her

64-year-old husband’s work ser-

vice while he deferred collecting

his benefits. The correct answer

is: If her husband were at full

retirement age, 66, he could

file for and suspend his Social

Security benefit, and at that

time she could receive a spousal

benefit. But at 64, he cannot

take advantage of what’s known

as voluntary suspension—filing

for and then suspending his

retirement benefit.



The Alpha Sudoku puzzle

should have been credited to

Frank Stolzenberg of Bloom-

field, Conn.



We appreciate hearing from you. Write

to: Bulletin Editor, Dept. RF, 601 E. St.

N.W., Washington, DC 20049; or e-mail

to: Bulletin@aarp.org. Please include

your address and phone number.









Puzzle Answers

(from page 26)



Sudoku

5 4 6 7 3 8 9 1 2

1 2 8 4 9 5 3 6 7

9 7 3 1 2 6 4 5 8

7 3 4 6 1 2 5 8 9

2 5 9 8 4 7 1 3 6

8 6 1 9 5 3 2 7 4

3 8 5 2 6 9 7 4 1

6 1 2 5 7 4 8 9 3

4 9 7 3 8 1 6 2 5





Parallel Thinking

apple, circle, berry, hexagon,

lemon, rectangle, mango,

rhombus, melon, square, plum,

trapezoid, strawberry, triangle





38 AARP BULLETIN NOVEMBER 2008

Power of 50









Daily Grind

The alarm clock rings:

12,500 mornings

Friday night happy

hours: 2,500

get-togethers

Job changes: 10

Relocations: 2

Had an office

romance: 40%

Office romances that

resulted in marriage: 45%



Total Time

Spent commuting: 1.2 years

On vacation: 1.4 years

Out sick: about 2 years

On a paid holiday: 285 days



Earnings

Minimum weekly wage

in 1958: $40 ($217.20

in today’s dollars)

Median weekly pay today,

men 65+: $686

Median weekly pay today,

women 65+: $534

Lifetime earnings with:

high-school diploma: $1.2 million

bachelor’s degree: $2.1 million

medical or law degree: $4.4 million

Many Americans who retire

Retirement

this year at age 66 with full Have a 401(k): 22%

Have a company

Social Security benefits will pension: 32%

Will rely only on

have clocked 50 years in the Social Security income: 25%

Average monthly SS payment: $1,094

workforce. Here is a snapshot Average monthly SS payment

to spouse: $390

of their work history. Average household wealth: $597,926

No. 1 reason for retiring:

By Betsy Towner to spend more time with family

Illustrated by Seymour Chwast Expect to work after

retirement: 54%

NOVEMBER 2008 AARP BULLETIN 39