Tonight on T.S. Radio: Movement to Reform Predatory Guardianships

Marcia Southwick will join the show this evening to discuss the growing movement to demand an end to predatory guardianships facilitated by probate courts.

Elderly individuals who have committed the new age crime of aging with assets are systematically targeted by greedy and immoral characters whose only interest is looting the estate.

70% of any real wealth in the US is owned by people over the age of 60.  This wealth is being redistributed to the predators at an estimated rate of over 3 billion per year.

Virtually kidnapped, isolated and many times forcibly medicated to chemically restrain the victim, is common practice so that the predators can obtain access to any and all assets.

Maybe its time for the predators to know what it is like to become prey.

5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 8:00 pm EST

LISTEN LIVE or listen to the archive later

Boomers are Killing Themselves at an Alarming Rate — Why?

Last spring, Frank Turkaly tried to kill himself. A retiree in a Pittsburgh suburb living on disability checks, he was estranged from friends and family, mired in credit card debt and taking medication for depression, cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure.

It was not the life he had envisioned as a young man in the 1960s and ’70s, when “people were more in tune with each other, people were more prone to help each other,” said Turkaly, 63, who owned a camera shop and later worked at Sears. “There was not this big segregation between the poor and the rich. . . . I thought it was going to continue the same, I didn’t think it was going to change.”

Turkaly said he regrets his attempt to overdose on tranquilizers, which he attributes to social isolation. But in one grim respect he is far from alone: He is part of an alarming trend among baby boomers, whose suicide rates shot up precipitously between 1999 and 2010.

It has long held true that elderly people have higher suicide rates than the overall population. But numbers released in May by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a dramatic spike in suicides among middle-aged people, with the highest increases among men in their 50s, whose rate went up by nearly 50 percent to 30 per 100,000; and women in their early 60s, whose rate rose by nearly 60 percent (though it is still relatively low compared with men, at 7 in 100,000). The highest rates were among white and Native American and Alaskan men. In recent years, deaths by suicide has surpassed deaths by motor vehicle crashes.

Full Article and Source:
Baby Boomers Are Killing Themselves at an Alarming Rate, Raising Question:  Why?

A New Source of Economic Growth

Apple Computer once famously advised us to “think different.” It’s time to think different about America’s ongoing demographic shift — and to think seriously about the opportunities it holds.

For decades, we’ve been conditioned to believe that growth is driven by the entrepreneurship, consumerism and aspirations of the young. We’ve learned about new technologies, products and services from our children, often the early adopters, who lead us to new ways of communicating, working and playing. Advertisers and marketers see the young as most open to new fashion and change, and as prime consumer targets. Products and services aimed at the young abound.

Conversely, there is a widely held view that aging hangs like a dark cloud over individuals, families, communities and many countries in the developed world. In the U.S., we hear daily that the aging of more than 78 million baby boomers brings with it the burden of entitlements, the inadequacy of pensions, and the rising costs of healthcare.

However, there’s a silver lining in the cloud of aging – and it’s big. Aging boomers represent a powerful wave of potential and opportunity. Longevity is not diminishing their influence; it’s changing their focus as consumers, leaders, learners and workers. Demography is destiny, and the size of a generation counts.

Now is the time for businesses, investors, educators, public policy makers and others to share in the fruits of longevity, or miss the chance to benefit from a massive emerging market. Are the boomers capable of driving the economy forward?

Full Article and Source:
The Longevity Economy: From The Elderly, A New Source Of Economic Growth

COMMENTARY: Declining fortunes affect boomers’ futures

Lots of baby boomers face a bleak economic future as more approach retirement, and that won’t help President Barack Obama’s re-election chances.

A recent AARP report showed that those age 50 and older are carrying more mortgage debt than ever, and the increase in the rate of serious mortgage delinquency of older Americans from 2007 to 2011 has outpaced that of younger homeowners. “As the mortgage crisis continues, millions of older Americans are struggling to maintain their financial security,” the AARP report said.

The report found 3.5 million loans of people age 50 and older were underwater. In that age group, about 600,000 loans were in foreclosure, and 625,000 more loans were at least 90 days delinquent.

Also from 2007 to 2011, more than 1.5 million older Americans lost their homes because of the mortgage crisis. Unemployment among older workers is high, and they have a tougher time finding jobs.

They also have to live with lower wages, increasing property taxes and fixed incomes. But how did older people in this country — once one of the most financially secure because of nearly 80 years of Social Security, solid savings and interest earnings, pensions and about an 80 percent homeownership rate — become so vulnerable?

Full Article and Source:
COMMENTARY: Declining fortunes affect boomers’ futures

The Defining Issue of Our Generation

Baby boomers are accustomed to feeling self-important. The 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 were dubbed the Me Generation for good reason. We have high expectations, we want only the very best, and we are savvy consumers of goods and services.

We are not the Greatest Generation – that was our parents – but we were raised to believe in the American Dream. It was there on television (black and white at first) in the lives of Beaver Cleaver, Donna Reed, Dick van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It involved growing up with your mom and dad; completing school and getting a good job; falling in love and getting married; having two great kids, a house and a two-car garage; seeing your children grow up and have children of their own; and living happily ever after. No wonder we have high expectations.

Unfortunately, we soon discovered that real life was not like TV. Throughout our lives boomers have collectively revised and reimagined every facet of the American Dream. When we were having babies, for instance, boomers transformed the way pregnancy and childbirth was approached not merely by health care, but also by society as a whole.

Full Article & Source:
The Defining Issue of Our Generation

Aging baby boomers face home health care challenge

CLEVELAND — For the past three years, Taura Tate’s mornings have revolved around caring for a woman who suffers from the effects of a stroke and diabetes. She cooks her oatmeal for breakfast, helps with showers and makes sure she takes the right medicine.

Without the help of a home health aide, the woman, who’s in her 70s, would be in a nursing home instead of living on her own.

But Tate has her own struggles. Until a recent promotion, her pay amounted to what she could make at McDonald’s. She doesn’t get health or retirement benefits and has worked at five agencies in the Cleveland area, some simultaneously, to guarantee she’ll have enough clients.

“If they go into the hospital or go on vacation, you don’t get paid,” she said.

Demand for home health care workers is soaring as baby boomers — the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 — get older and states try to save money by moving people out of more costly nursing homes. But filling more than 1 million new home care positions over the next decade will be a challenge.

Full Article and Source:
Aging baby boomers face home health care challenge

‘All Baby Boomers Should Be Tested for Hepatitis C’

The federal government Friday called for all baby boomers to be tested for hepatitis C, which kills more Americans each year than AIDS and is the leading reason for liver transplants.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made the draft recommendation in an effort to find hundreds of thousands of people who have the infection but don’t know it.

Baby boomers account for more than 2 million of the 3.2 million Americans infected with the blood-borne virus. It can take decades to cause liver damage, and many people don’t know they’re infected.

CDC officials say the new measure could lead 800,000 more baby boomers to get treatment and could save more than 120,000 lives.

“The CDC views hepatitis C as an unrecognized health crisis for the country, and we believe the time is now for a bold response,” said Dr. John Ward, the CDC’s hepatitis chief.

Full Article and Source:
All Baby Boomers Should Be Tested for Hepatitus C, The CDC Decides

Talk Finances With Your Family

If adult children and their parents are supporting one another financially, how often are they discussing money worries? It turns out, though boomers are much more likely to report that they regularly discuss money matters with their family than they were in 2007 (50 percent vs. 39 percent), these conversations are only scratching the surface. In fact, four in 10 boomers (41 percent) admit they haven’t adequately discussed their current financial situation with their children and one-quarter (27 percent) say they rarely or never discuss retirement. If your family tends to put financial discussions on the back-burner, approaching them now among challenging economic times may be intimidating.

Full Article and Source:
Talk Finances With Your Family

How Boomers’ Generosity Hurts Their Retirement

As young adults struggle to find their footing in this economy, often turning to their parents for help, many baby boomer parents find themselves trapped between their own financial security and that of their children. A new survey from Ameriprise Financial found that over half of boomers have allowed their grown children to move back home with them rent-free, despite the fact that their own financial stability has deteriorated over the last five years.

The survey reveals that many baby boomer parents are feeling simultaneous pressure to help their aging parents and struggling children, and shore up their own savings and investments as retirement approaches. Many of them are also unable to work as long as they planned, which further hurts them financially, says Suzanna de Baca, vice president of wealth strategies at Ameriprise Financial. “Boomers are feeling significantly less confident that they can maintain their lifestyle and retire on time,” she says.

Full Article and Source:
How Boomers Generosity Hurts Their Retirement

Elder Abuse Remains Hidden Problem as Baby Boomers Reach Old Age

Despite the 2010 passage of the Elder Justice Act, policy experts have found that combating widespread abuse of seniors is still not a top priority for care providers and governments alike. As many as one in 10 people age 60 and over are affected by this problem, according to the newest Public Policy & Aging Report (PPAR) from the National Academy on an Aging Society, the policy institute of The Gerontological Society of America. U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) and U.S. Representative Peter King (R-NY), who have been heavily involved in legislation to address elder abuse, contributed introductory statements for the issue.

Elder abuse encompasses mistreatment, neglect, and exploitation of a physical, psychological, or sexual nature. The Elder Justice Act was signed into law as part of 2010’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, yet it has received no appropriations to date.

Full Article and Source:
Elder Abuse Remains Hidden Problem as Baby Boomers Reach Old Age

See Also:
Baby Boomers Beware of Guardianship Abuse