SVM-MAG_04102014

BOOMERS Spring 2014

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Boomers 2014

Boomers 2014

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What’s inside Publisher: Trevis Mayfield Advertising Director: Jennifer Baratta Advertising Sales: Jill Reyna Kelly Shroyer Editors: Larry Lough Marla Seidell Page Design: Marla Seidell

Find love after divorce through online dating services, senior centers Page 4 Experts see a rise in senior bullying ........................ Page 6

Baby boomers retiring to boats in Mexico ................... Page 12 Many turning to hip and knee replacement ............... Page 15

Over 50 struggle in today’s job market..................... Page 9

Predictive blood test could help identify those at risk for Alzheimer’s ................ Page 18

How investing changes as retirement nears ........ Page 11

Funeral and casket outlets head to the mall ......... Page 21

Articles and advertisements are the property of Sauk Valley Media, P.O. Box 498, Sterling, IL 61081, 815-625-3600. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Ad content is not the responsibility of Sauk Valley Media. The information in this guide is believed to be accurate; however, Sauk Valley Media cannot and does not guarantee its accuracy. Sauk Valley Media cannot and will not be held liable for the quality or performance of goods and services provided by advertisers listed in any portion of this magazine.

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Boomers 2014

Finding love after divorce Online dating sites, senior centers can help that the site will search for companions.

For those who are older, eHarmony’s ivorce is a hard reality for anysenior dating website allows them to find The Lee County Council On Aging is at one, regardless of their age, love through matching and talking to 100 West Second St. in Dixon and can location, and economic status. others in the senior dating forum. be reached at 815-288-9236.

But, for boomers, the reasons behind However, maintaining a social life is divorcing one’s spouse are different from one of the most important aspects of those of other ages, even in the Sauk Val- tors have influenced the divorce rates of post-divorce life. ley.

While many may find that old friends baby boomers.

According to the Bureau of Labor Staand family are enough, others can One theory is that the shift in gender tistics, “Eighty-seven percent of baby choose to participate in the local activiroles in the last half of the 20th century boomers born in the years 1957 through affected couples’ ability to adhere to tra- ties.

1964 had married at least once by the The Lee County Council on Aging ditional gender roles in marriage, creattime they reached age 46. Of those who provides educational and recreational ing conflict. had married, 45 percent had experienced opportunities for those who want to Another theory is that the stigma of at least one divorce.” divorce decreased, making the option of broaden their social circle. Members can While the divorce rate of baby boomers divorce less damaging to one’s reputaenjoy activities such as fitness classes, in the United States varies by age, geninterest clubs, and special events. tion. der, employment status and educational The council is having its annual Senior In the Sauk Valley, there are options for attainment, the rate increased dramatiSpring Prom from 6 p.m. to midnight those who have divorced, whether they cally from 1990 to 2010, and continues are looking for new love or just hoping to April 5 at the Post House Ballroom. The to rise. popular event allows attendees to dress increase their social circle.

A study done between 1990 and up, create new memories, and is open to Those looking for love may find online 2010 by Susan Brown and I-Fen Lin dating sites a viable option whether they those 21 and older. titled “The Gray Divorce Revolution,” However, the most important part folare looking for a partner nearby or across showed that as the number of people lowing divorce is to make sure to take the country. over the age 50 increased, the divorce care of your body, emotionally and physPopular sites such as eharmony.com rate doubled during this time period, and match.com match clients based on a ically. Many people experience health stating, “600,000 persons over age issues following divorce, making personvariety of topics, including age.

50 got divorced in 2010 compared to al care especially important for boomers Boomers looking for love in the Sauk about 200,000 in 1990.”

Valley area can also create a search radi- who may face increasing health issues as Psychologists theorize that several fac- us, which limits the geographical area they get older.

BY CASSANDRA ZIMMERMAN Special to Boomers

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Boomers 2014

Bullying knows no age limit Experts see rise in cases among seniors bully, yet what do we think happens to those people when they KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Schoolyard grow old?” said Robin P. Bonifas, thugs who prey on weaker or vulan assistant professor at Arizona nerable classmates may grow up, State University who studies senior but they don’t go away – even when bullying. “Bullying is not just their hair turns gray, experts say. something that is exclusive to chilAn increasing number of senior dren, but it seems to be a lifelong citizens are being victimized by occurrence.” other seniors, they say. The bulLast year, a resident of a Kansas lying varies but includes bossing City, Mo., senior housing facility others around, verbal putdowns, tried to overdose on prescription spreading rumors and sometimes pills after another resident prephysical violence. vented her from spending time According to one estimate, 10 to with a sibling who also lived in the 20 percent of residents of senior facility, a social worker said. facilities and those who regularly It left one sister thinking she had visit senior centers have endured become a burden to her sister. some form of bullying.

Staff intervened after the suicide “Bullying is about power, and attempt and provided the sister that drive for power doesn’t dimin- with therapy. Her sibling told ish with age,” said SuEllen Fried, a workers she did not intend to Prairie Village, Kan., resident who neglect her sister but didn’t know formed BullySafeUSA and has how to respond to the bully. written four books on bullying.

The sisters declined to elaborate “People who are seeking power out of fear that the bully, who still are always trying to find vulnerable lives in their building, would retalipeople that will succumb to their ate. terrors and intimidation.”

“Just like we have heard about Just as attention to bullying teenage girls committing suicide online and at work has grown in because of bullying and cyberbullyrecent years, more people across ing, this is still happening to people, the United States are talking about because the same folks who are very seniors who bully other seniors. vulnerable to being targets, they A woman who lives in a Massaare still very vulnerable,” said Deb chusetts retirement residence last Babbitt, a Kansas City social worker year told a newspaper there that who has given more than a dozen she and others endured racial slurs presentations on senior bullying in and Latino residents were ordered the past last year. to speak English. Other residents Seniors who bully typically have complained about abusive lanexperienced loss, experts say. They guage, disruptions at tenant meet- may have recently moved into an ings and physical threats, The Sun assisted living facility or senior Chronicle reported. apartment building.

“We all hear about the bullies in BULLYING CONTINUED ON 8 the schoolyard, and the workplace

BY GLENN E. RICE MCT News Service

MCT News Service illustration

Diving in Head First

By Lisa Berlage, CFP® |Consultant

A widow or widower requires special considerations when planning for her or his future. Generally most surviving spouses are women and the focus here will be on widows, though widowers may find value in the information as well.

When a husband dies, the widow dives head first into dealing with the murky waters of probate, tax, legal and financial issues. In many marriages, the husband had taken the lead in tax and financial issues and so, for the widow, understanding these new and confusing challenges can be quite daunting.

In the midst of all the chaos, where can the widow go to get help? Let’s take a step back and look at the process of learning how to swim. People typically hire certified, trained instructors to teach them how to swim. Why would anyone do any different in this situation with his or her financial future?

When learning to swim, a person doesn’t just dive into the water and hope for the best; he or she starts at the beginning level, learns, grows and progresses to the next level. By breaking it down into three levels, the same concept can be applied to handling the finances after the death of a spouse.

Level One - Partner In the early stages of grief, a widow may make poor decisions out of fear or confusion; to help avoid this, she should partner with an advisor that utilizes a discovery process to gather the information necessary to determine her immediate needs and what needs can be prioritized until later. She should consider working with a financial advisor that is a Certified Financial Planner or Certified Public Accountant to help give her proper guidance.

Level Two - Prioritize “Perhaps the best advice is what NOT to do right away. Don’t make any hasty major financial decisions, such as changing investments, moving, changing jobs, or retiring early, unless it’s absolutely necessary. Defer all but the most essential financial decisions.” (1) It may feel overwhelming and confusing for the widow, but realistically there are only a few items that need to be handled right after a spouse’s death. A financial advisor can help establish financial priorities and deadlines that should be focused on first, such as gathering all pertinent documents.

The widow should take small “strokes” at first to help understand the overall big picture and to move to the next level of making long term planning decisions.

Level Three - Plan After the widow has regained some focus in her life, she should assess planning from a risk management, estate, tax and investment perspective. A financial advisor could provide a financial assessment and identify other issues to address, such as overall diversification of the widow’s assets, investment risks and strategies, and tax efficiencies.

Remember—best practice is to focus on what needs to be done first and to take one level at a time. Don’t dive into murky financial waters head first; instead, find the right advisor to help keep your financial situation afloat.

1. Financial Planning Association, 2007 “Coping with Death & Injury: Financial Consideration in a Time of Need”. Retrieved from http://www.fpanet.org/docs/assets/B243F0D1-1D0967A1-7A224F6AB7FC2DB0/2-16-07deathinjury.pdf

Hewins Financial Advisors, LLC and Wipfli Hewins Investment Advisors, LLC (together referred to as “Hewins”) are investment advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The views expressed by the author are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of Hewins or its affiliates. The information contained in any third-party resource cited herein, including but not limited to other blogs, websites or articles, is not owned or controlled by Hewins, and Hewins does not guarantee the accuracy or reliability of any information that may be found in such resources. Links to any third-party resource are provided as a courtesy for reference only and are not intended to be, and do not act as, an endorsement by Hewins of third party or any of its content or use of its content. The standard information provided in this article is for general educational purposes only and should not be construed as, or used as a substitute for, financial, investment, or other professional advice. If you have questions regarding your financial situation you should consult your financial planner, investment advisor, attorney or other professional. Hewins is a proud affiliate of Wipfli LLP. A copy of Hewins’ current ADV Part 2A discussing Hewins’ investment advisory and financial planning services and fees is available for review upon request or at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.ancial, investment, or other professionaladvice. If you have questions regarding your financial situation youshould consult your financial planner, investment advisor, attorneyor other professional. Hewins is a proud affiliate of Wipfli LLP. Acopy of Hewins’ current ADV Part 2A discussing Hewins’ investmentadvisory and financial planning services and fees is available forreview upon request or at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.

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Boomers 2014

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Turn that pain ... into kindnessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the age, and it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go away when people get out of high school,â&#x20AC;? Babbitt said.

A worker at a Platte County, Mo., â&#x20AC;&#x153;So now you (the senior) need help center has to remind seniors enjoywith bathing. You need help putting ing a video bowling game to play fair. your shoes on or managing your medi- Sometimes the intense play will lead to cine, or eating,â&#x20AC;? Bonifas said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They insults, the worker said. are not as valued as much in the comIn another incident, an 84-year-old munity or workplace and maybe not as woman began using a wheelchair after important in your family system as you a stroke that left her partially paralyzed used to be.â&#x20AC;? and with slurred speech. She returned That magnitude of loss creates a need to her senior apartment building after to be in control of something. rehabilitation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One thing they can control is bossing The resident bully soon set her sights other people around,â&#x20AC;? Bonifas said. on the stroke victim. The bully freSenior bullies, like other bullies, tend quently complained her wheelchair to have less empathy for others and was too wide for the hallways, that she have difficulty seeing how their behav- didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take care of herself and smelled, ior affects others. They have a low said people who were familiar with the tolerance for differences and get easily matter. annoyed by others, especially those The stoke victim belonged in a nursthey perceive as different. For men, ing home, said the bully, who once their sexuality may be openly questhreatened to report her to welfare tioned. For women, a bully may spread authorities. Shunned by her neighbors rumors about them being promiscuand afraid of the bully, the stroke vicous. tim became depressed and later moved â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bullying is bullying no matter what to a nursing home, where she died.

BULLYING

CONTINUED FROM 6

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Victims often experience anxiety and depression, which can lead to increased blood pressure, fatigue, increased isolation, feelings of rejection and reduced self-esteem, Babbit said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This population is already vulnerable, so emotional stresses like this are really big deals to them,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If they feel they cannot walk out of their apartments without being picked on by the mean girls in the community room, then they are going to start to isolate even more and not reach out.â&#x20AC;?

It is important for seniors to know there is help, experts said.

Marlene Katz of Leawood, Kan., frequently visits nursing homes and retirement facilities to teach seniors how to stand up to bullies. The sessions include role-playing and storytelling. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What I hope to accomplish is to help people transform whatever pain seniors might have engrained within themselves or have against another senior, (and) turn that pain and aggression into kindness,â&#x20AC;? Katz said.

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9

Working against time

MCT News Service

Mike Duffy, 62, leans in to hear a customer’s order at a new Starbucks, Jan. 29, in Edina, Minn. Duffy lost his sales job in 2007.

Over 50 struggling in today’s job market

A

BY ADAM BELZ MCT News Service

s hard as he tried, Michael Duffy couldn’t find a job to match the one he’d lost.

For two decades, he earned six figures selling equipment to factories. But at 62, he kept getting turned away, one job interview after another.

So last fall he started working at Starbucks.

He wears a green apron, wipes tables, mans a cash register that he’s gradually learning to use and banters with people who order an espresso breve or a Caramel Brulee Latte. He has natural rapport with customers, especially older ones; enjoys winning people over; and likes taking care of them.

But he makes less in a day than he did in a half-hour at the peak of his sales career.

“The pay isn’t what we would all hope,” Duffy, of Eden Prairie, Minn., said the day he started. “But it’s something to do and it’s great benefits and we’ll see where it goes.”

‘‘ ’’ The situation is worse today than it has been in past recoveries.

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It has never been easy to get older, need a good full-time job and not have one. But that’s the predicament now for more Americans than ever, and the challenge has gotten steeper in the prolonged recovery. Millions of workers in their 50s and 60s are drifting into the perilous intersection of unemployment, underemployment and retirement.

“The situation is worse today than it has been in past recoveries,” said Sara Rix, a senior strategist at the AARP Public Policy Institute. “These men and women have little time to recover, and working later in life may be the only way some can make it.”

STRUGGLING CONTINUED ON 10

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Boomers 2014

More older workers end up in ‘bridge jobs’ STRUGGLING

CONTINUED FROM 9

The unemployment rate for workers over 55 was higher during the Great Recession than it had been for decades, though it has fallen to a still-high 4.5 percent. Older workers remain jobless on average for about a year, far longer than younger workers. Almost half of those over 55 who are unemployed have been so for 6 months or longer, a total of 761,000 people.

But unemployment is only part of the unwelcome picture. The number of workers over 55 who have dropped out of the labor force but say they still want a job is about 1.6 million, a 67 percent increase since 2007.

Fair or not, some employers question older applicants’ energy and enthusiasm, their technical knowledge, and their willingness to work with young people. A general bias against the long-term unemployed also is a disadvantage for older workers who have been jobless for months or years.

“If the economy were roaring ahead, it would be an easier sell,” said Kevin Cahill,

we care for your loved ones like

‘‘

It’s kind of like the baseball player who hits his late 30s and realizes he’s just not wanted anymore.

Michael Duffy

’’

an economist at the Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College.

For decades, older workers commonly moved into what Cahill calls “bridge jobs” between their careers and retirement.

But today, those jobs are less desirable, so more older workers are ending up in “bridge jobs” they didn’t want.

“The difference, now, post-2008, is that a lot of these transitions are involuntary,” Cahill said. “It’s a huge shift, and it’s the impact of the Great Recession.”

In 1991, when Duffy was in his early 40s and looking for work, he interviewed for three jobs and got three offers.

It seemed easy, and one employer told him a secret that still rings in his ears: He was the perfect age – old enough to have

gravitas, young enough to carry the whiff of an up-and-comer.

Today, Duffy is the same guy with more experience – still youthful, physically fit, good with people. But after six years of intermittent employment, dozens of fruitless job interviews and quiet self-assessments on drives back home, he earns $7.75 an hour working part-time at the coffee shop. He hasn’t given up, but he has learned that in a sluggish labor market, his job candidacy has lost its shine.

“It’s kind of like the baseball player who hits his late 30s,” he said, “and realizes he’s just not wanted anymore.”

The best-off Americans in retirement are the 36 percent who get income from a pension. But the share of workers with a pension has shrunk, and those who took early retirement in recent years often accepted a deal for a lesser pension.

The problems of older workers are a mix of things they can control and things they can’t. Sixty-four percent say they’ve either seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, but they’re also up against a weak, changing job market and the wellestablished bias against hiring the longterm unemployed.

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Boomers 2014

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Investing changes as retirement nears Advisers and clients often fail to bring up key issues

A

BY JANET KIDD STEWART MCT News Service

fter stocks leaped forward in 2013, the hangover in the early going of 2014, not surprisingly, took a toll on retirement saversâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; risk tolerance.

The Retirement Advisor Confidence Index, a monthly poll of wealth managers, fell 4.2 points, to 52.5, in February, one of the steepest drops since Financial Planning magazine began tracking the measure.

Clients on the whole pulled money from stocks and bonds to put into cash accounts, and they cut back on retirement planning services and retirement-oriented investment products, according to the magazine. Still, readings in excess of 50 are considered expansionary.

Investors notoriously buy and sell at precisely the wrong time. But when they get near or into retirement, something even more alarming seems to occur, according

to research in behavioral finance.

The aging process can derail clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; original investment intentions, making their portfolios vulnerable to a counterintuitive mix of overconfidence and loss aversion, according to a new paper in the Retirement Management Journal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People change as they get older, and I wanted to investigate how aging changes the way people manage money and work with an adviser,â&#x20AC;? said Helen Simon, a financial adviser who also teaches classes on investments and risk management at Florida International University.

Simon will receive an award from the Retirement Income Industry Association, a trade group of financial service and annuity providers, for a paper she wrote for the journal on how better to cater to the specific needs of clients in or near retirement.

On that front, she says, there is ample room for improvement.

Advisers and clients alike often fail to bring up key issues that will affect the clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; financial futures or focus too heavily on the wrong issues, she said.

Many retirees take lump-sum pension buyouts because they think they can man-

age the money to better returns than could be had with an annuity and out of fear of giving up control over the money to an insurance company, she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Marketers play havoc with this behavioral flaw, encouraging retirees to take their lump sums and do it themselves; similar to the scenario of lottery winners, who overwhelmingly take the lump sum only to end up broke and often in debt,â&#x20AC;?

Simon writes in her paper.

In an interview, she said she understands how paralyzing all the retirement investing choices can be. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 57 myself now, and all of my friends are going through this stage of life. I kept feeling that if Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m perplexed about all this, how do they feel?â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A girlfriend of mine had an adviser who for 15 years just kept saying sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be OK. Well, sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not.â&#x20AC;?

To be sure, there are plenty of concerns about annuities.

They are complex financial instruments with particularly low returns in the current interest rate environment and have a history of aggressive sales tactics and high fees.

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Boomers 2014

Doing what they want Boomers savor retirement living on boats

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

ally or year-round on boats, lured by the simplicity of life and lower cost of living.

LA PAZ, Mexico â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re nomads, sailThey also are searching for tranquility, a ing freely, crossing international waters, place away from the fast pace and hectic guided by one principle: Just float. life increasingly dominated, they say, by â&#x20AC;&#x153;Good thing is, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a schedtime pressures in an age of social media. ule,â&#x20AC;? said Allyson Van Os of Dallas. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We â&#x20AC;&#x153;You come here to check out on a life just do the things we like to do, when we thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not yours anymore,â&#x20AC;? said Leanne Leanne Lawrence want to do them. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s our schedule.â&#x20AC;?

Lawrence, 61, originally from Texas and Van Os, 62, is one of millions of baby now commuting between La Paz and Oreboomers living part of their lives on gon with her husband, Jack Jandreau. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You boats, inspired by a lifestyle that she come here to reconnect with yourself and owners say is worth pursuing. acknowledges is harder than it seems. the nature around you, the sunsets, sunrisWith an estimated 80 million baby boom- es and the welcoming people of Mexico.â&#x20AC;?

She and her husband, Ed, and two dogs, ers retiring in the coming years, Mexico Dexter and Pequena, dock their 65-foot Hence La Paz, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Peace,â&#x20AC;? a seaside looms large as an alternative place to live boat, the Virginia Reel, in the waters of town known for sports fishing, whales, not just on land, but on sea. Recreational La Paz in the Baja Peninsula, the same seafood and, increasingly, Americans boating industry experts predict that the place where Spanish conquistador Herseeking to reinvent themselves, much nan Cortes first docked his boat in 1535. number of boomer boat owners will grow, the way author John Steinbeck did when although finding exact figures â&#x20AC;&#x201C; anywhere he stayed here and was inspired to pen They are joined there by more than 100 from 10 million to 17 million, by some esti- some of his classic books, including â&#x20AC;&#x153;The other boat owners, part of a growing nautical tourism business in Mexico that mates â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is difficult in part because of their Pearlâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sea of Cortez.â&#x20AC;? nomadic existence. isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t without legal hassles, including tax LIVING ON BOATS CONTINUED ON 14 Many of these retirees are living seasonagents, but that is a dream many boat

BY ALFREDO CORCHADO MCT News Service

You come here to reconnect with yourself and the nature around you, the sunsets, sunrises and the welcoming people of Mexico.

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MCT News Service

Allyson van Os of Dallas walks on the dock with her dog, Pequena, Jan. 25. She and her husband, Ed, live on their boat in La Paz, Mexico, from October to June. She first visited La Paz as a young girl. “I knew then that I would want one day to live here,” she says.

Avonlea Cottage of Sterling Mother has moved into the newly created Alzheimer’s wing at Avonlea Cottages as her disease has progressed. She is very comfortable in her new surroundings. There are only six rooms in this division so she receives very personalized service, and her special friends are very close.

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14

Boomers 2014

The boat lifestyle is not for everyone LIVING ON BOATS CONTINUED FROM 12

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The community is just right, feels right,â&#x20AC;? said Jandreau, 64, who with his wife has been sailing to La Paz for more than 20 years.

But the boat lifestyle is not for everyone, and challenges are many, cautioned Mark Nicholas, author of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The live-aboard lifestyle is easily sold as a romantic dream,â&#x20AC;? Nicholas said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;While that can be true, boats require work and experience.â&#x20AC;?

In November, Mexican tax agents disrupted the tranquil life for many, temporarily impounding more than 300 foreign-owned sailboats and yachts across Mexican marinas. Most of the boats have since been released. The tax agents seemed to be going after tax cheats without fully understanding international laws, said Lawrence, who added that boat owners are not required to pay tax or duty if they have a 10-year temporary import permit, which costs about $50.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mexican authorities can take and sell your assets, or just take your boat, your Mexican authorities can condo,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As more Americans take and sell your assets, or move south of the border, they have to just take your boat, your condo. be on top of the tax laws because they As more Americans move can be confusing and sometimes messy.â&#x20AC;?

Nicholas has other practical advice. south of the border, they have â&#x20AC;&#x153;Take time to understand a bit about to be on top of the tax laws the lifestyle, and if you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t already, because they can be confusing spend time aboard a boat getting used and sometimes messy. to the sights, sounds, motion and smells.

There are lots of pros, but also lots of Morey Glazer, international tax consultant cons, including limited space, moisture and so forth.â&#x20AC;?

Even so, for boat owners like van Os and her friends, sailing, living on a boat, â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was a lot of confusion, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sleeping on gentle ocean waves and building a community on a marina never been resolved,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Life is back to gets old. normal.â&#x20AC;?

Van Os lives in La Paz between October Mexicoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tax Service Administration, and June and wishes her three grandequivalent to the U.S. Internal Revenue daughters in Dallas would visit. She Service, declined a request for an interview, but an official said most of the ves- insists that Americans are too consumed with concerns about security. sels seized have been freed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even give that a thought,â&#x20AC;? said Still, Morey Glazer, a Dallas-based van Os. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Security has never been an issue international tax consultant, said the for me. This has always been personal, incident serves as a warning for Ameriabout finding an inner peace.â&#x20AC;? cans.

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‘Remarkable numbers’ Study shows 2 percent of Americans have new hips and knees

BY MARILYNN MARCHIONE AP Chief Medical Writer

I

t’s not just grandma with a new hip and your uncle with a new knee. More than 2 of every 100 Americans now have an artificial joint, doctors are reporting.

Among those over 50, it’s even more common: Five percent have replaced a knee and more than 2 percent, a hip.

“They are remarkable numbers,” said Dr. Daniel J. Berry, chairman of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic. Roughly 7 million people in the United States are living with a total hip or knee replacement.

He led the first major study to estimate how prevalent these procedures have become, using federal databases on surgeries and life expectancy trends. Results were reported March 11 at an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons conference in New Orleans.

NEW JOINTS CONTINUED ON 17

AP

Dr. Joshua Jacobs, orthopedics surgery chief at Rush University Medical Center and president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Chicago, holds a model of a tri-compartmental total knee replacement. More than 600,000 knees and about 400,000 hips are replaced in the U.S. each year.

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Boomers 2014

AP

Total knee replacement surgery patient Mary Ann Tuft, 79, walks in her apartment in Chicago. She said her right knee was miserable for a decade before she had it replaced in 2005.

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17

Only for people with damaged joints NEW JOINTS

of bones are removed or resurfaced and replaced with plastic, ceramic or metal materials.

Arthritis is the main reason for these More than 600,000 knees and about operations, followed by obesity, which 400,000 hips are replaced in the U.S. adds stress on knees and hips. Baby each year. But until now, there havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t boomers are wearing out joints by been good numbers on how many peoplaying sports and doing other activiple are living with new joints. The numties to avoid obesity. Knee replaceber is expected to grow as the population ment surgeries have more than tripled ages, raising questions about cost, how in the 45-to-64 age group over the past long the new parts will last, and how best decade and nearly half of hip replaceto replace the replacements as they wear ments now are in people under 65, out over time. federal numbers show.

Why the boom? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not for anybody who has pain â&#x20AC;&#x153;People are aware that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a suc- in the joint,â&#x20AC;? Berry warned. Surgery cessâ&#x20AC;? and are less willing to put up wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help people with pain and stiffwith painful joints, Berry said. ness from arthritis but whose joints The term â&#x20AC;&#x153;replacementâ&#x20AC;? is a little are not damaged, said Berry, who gets misleading, said Dr. Joshua Jacobs, royalties from certain hip and knee chairman of orthopedic surgery at implants.

Rush University Medical Center in Surgery also is not for people who Chicago and president of the orthohavenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t first tried exercise, medicines pedic surgery association. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and weight loss, Jacobs said. replaced is the surface of a joint after But for a growing number of people, cartilage has worn away, leaving bone it can mean a big improvement in rubbing against bone and causing quality of life. Mary Ann Tuft, 79, who pain and less mobility. owns an executive search firm, said In a replacement operation, the ends her right knee was painful for a decade CONTINUED FROM 15

before she had it replaced in 2005. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I live in downtown Chicago, take a lot of walks along the beach. I could barely walk a blockâ&#x20AC;? by the time the operation was done, she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very social, but I found going to cocktail receptions where you had to stand a long time, I would just avoid them.â&#x20AC;?

After the operation, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I felt better pretty much right from the beginning,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even know you have it in there, which is amazing.â&#x20AC;?

Cynthia Brabbit, a dental hygienist from Winona, Minn., had hip replacement in 2007 when she was 52.

She developed hip problems in her 20s that distorted her gait and even caused one leg to grow longer than the other. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was running marathons, doing half marathons, playing tennis,â&#x20AC;? but the problem grew so bad she couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even walk more than half a mile, she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now I can walk an hour a day,â&#x20AC;? and is training for a 100-mile bike ride this summer, she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What a world of difference.â&#x20AC;?

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Researchers seek simple test Helping identify those at risk for Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

BY SUSAN SCHROCK MCT News Service

ARLINGTON, Texas â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Twice in 6 months, Bobbie Wilburn walked home from the grocery store because her car had been stolen.

It hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. She just couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t remember where she parked.

Those incidents and others in an escalating series of memory lapses and questionable judgment calls led the family to take away Wilburnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s car keys, disconnect her oven and stove, and eventually decide that she could no longer live alone safely, said her daughter, Barrie Page Hill of Arlington, Texas. Wilburn, 79, who was diagnosed with Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease about 6 years ago, now lives with Hillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family and requires constant care. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was excruciating for us. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always seen my mom as the lady who could do anything,â&#x20AC;? Hill said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a horrible, horMCT News Service rible disease. I hate what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done to my Barrie Page Hill (left) applies makeup to her mother, Bobbie Wilburn, 79, March 15, mom. I hate what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done to my family.â&#x20AC;? in Arlington, Texas. Wilburn has Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease and now lives with Hill.

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Boomers 2014 Though Wilburn has coherent days, Hill called the disease a “time bomb” ticking away in her mother’s brain.

“This is a long-term illness that she will have for the rest of her life. It would be tremendous if they could find a cure for this,” Hill said.

There is no known cure. But researchers, including those at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, are developing blood tests designed to help doctors more quickly detect Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and mild cognitive impairment such as Parkinson’s disease. Advance detection helps patients begin taking better care of themselves, researchers say, and such breakthroughs will boost efforts to develop medications to delay or even reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s.

“In the Alzheimer’s world, we don’t detect the disease until it’s pretty advanced. If someone is clinically diagnosable with Alzheimer’s, it has been going on for years,” said Sid O’Bryant, interim director of the Institute for Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Research at the health science center. “We need to be able to detect it earlier and earlier so we can create new ways to prevent the disease itself and do early treatment so we can be most effective in treating our patients.”

An estimated half-million Americans

19 each year are affected by Alzheimer’s, a degenerative brain disease, which researchers believe is surpassed only by heart disease and cancer as the leading cause of death in the United States, according to a study published.

“It robs patients of their memories. I find that particularly disturbing,” said O’Bryant, whose grandmother died with Alzheimer’s. “Our memories are intimately linked to who we are. It slowly erodes away the person himself. … Toward the end of the disease, it’s not the same person. That takes a huge toll on families.”

Alzheimer’s research is decades behind cardiovascular and cancer research, and new medications haven’t hit the market in years, some neurologists say, partly because of the difficulty in diagnosing patents and enrolling them in clinical trials early enough to test the effectiveness of new medications and treatments, researchers say.

“It’s been a decade since we’ve had a new medication come available so we can treat the disease. It’s very frustrating,” said Dr. Kevin Conner, neurologist and medical director at Texas Health Arlington Memorial’s Stroke Center.

New blood tests may change all that one day.

In a study published in Nature Medicine, researchers made international headlines

after unveiling a first-of-its-kind blood test they say can predict with 90 percent accuracy whether a healthy person will develop Alzheimer’s within 2 to 3 years. The test is based on whether the person has lowered levels of particular fatty lipids.

In the Rochester Aging Study, launched in 2007, the researchers collected blood samples from more than 500 healthy people older than 70. Five years later, they further examined the samples from the people who had developed Alzheimer’s or other mild cognitive problems and found that 10 specific lipids were at lower levels than normal, possibly an early signal that the disease has begun breaking down brain cells, according an article about the study on the University of Rochester Medical Center website.

“The ability to identify individuals who are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s before the clinical manifestation of cognitive impairment has long been a holy grail of the neuromedicine community,” said Dr. Mark Mapstone, a neuropsychologist at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and lead author of the study. “Current efforts to develop a treatment for this disease are coming up short because they are probably being used too late. Biomarkers that can allow us to intervene early in the course of the disease could be a game-changer.”

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Boomers 2014

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Boomers 2014

21

Shoppers walk past the Forest Lawn funeral home kiosk at the Glendale Galleria mall in Glendale, Calif.

AP

Something that could catch on?

Funeral and casket outlets heading to the mall JOHN ROGERS The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES – We eat there, buy our clothes there and some people suspect teenagers may actually live there. So perhaps it was just a matter of time until funeral homes began moving into the local shopping mall.

Over the past 2 years, Forest Lawn has been quietly putting movable kiosks in several of the malls that dot Southern California’s suburbs.

The move, by one of the funeral industry’s best known operators, expands on a marketing innovation that appears to have begun at the dawn of the decade when a company called Til We Meet Again began opening casket stores around the country.

“We try to reach our audience where they are at and the mall is a great way to

do that,” said Ben Sussman, spokesman for Forest Lawn, whose cemeteries count among their permanent residents such notables as Walt Disney, Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson.

“And it’s also, perhaps, a way to reach people who might be a little leery about coming directly into one of our parks,” Sussman said.

As to why folks would be leery about that, industry officials acknowledge the answer is obvious: Who really wants to enter a funeral home even one day before they have to?

“Funeral planning is something everybody knows they must do, but at the same time it’s something nobody wants to do,” said Robert Fells, executive director of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association.

“Nobody gets up on a Saturday morn-

ing and says, ‘Gee, it’s a nice day. I wonder if I can go out and get myself a burial plot,’” Fells said.

But if they’re strolling past a funeral outlet at the mall, where they’re surrounded by happy, lively people and maybe clutching a bag of Mrs. Field’s cookies, the thought is that they’ll feel differently.

“When they’re going to the mall, people are not going out of need,” said Nathan Smith, co-founder and CEO of Til We Meet Again, which has outlets in malls in Arizona, Louisiana, Kansas, Indiana and Texas.

So if they do happen to see a place peddling coffins or urns while they’re pricing T-shirts and hoodies, Smith said, it will look far less intimidating.

FUNERAL OUTLETS CONTINUED ON 23

22

Boomers 2014

AP

Mark Sanchez and his wife, Leaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Anne Sanchez, look at a Dodgers theme cremation urn at the Forest Lawn funeral home stand at the Glendale Galleria mall in Glendale, Calif. Forest Lawn, famous as the final resting place for everyone from Al Jolson to Michael Jackson, has begun staffing outlets at shopping malls, reasoning that planning for death, either for a loved one or yourself, might not be quite as intimidating for some people if it takes place in a lively, happy place like a mall rather than the more somber confines of a cremation home.

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Boomers 2014

23

Credit the baby boom generation FUNERAL OUTLETS CONTINUED FROM 21

Forest Lawnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effort began modestly, with just one kiosk (one of those movable things that usually is used to sell stuff like calendars or ties) in a mall in the Los Angeles suburb of Eagle Rock.

When no one was creeped out, the program expanded to about a halfdozen malls. Now Forest Lawn periodically shuffles them from one mall to another to reach the largest audience.

Unlike the people at other such stations, who can seem like carnival barkers as they walk right up to you and hawk discount calling plans or free yogurt samples, Forest Lawnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operators are more discreet.

At the entrance to a Macyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s department in the LA suburb of Arcadia last year, operators were quick to smile and hand out brochures when approached. But they kept their distance until people came to them.

It was the same at a mall in Glendale last week, where people stopped to

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examine cremation urns ranging from one with a subdued design of leaves to another that brightly featured the logo for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.

Also on display was a recruiting poster for potential future Forest Lawn employees, complete with a picture of the great Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who urged them to consider â&#x20AC;&#x153;joining a winning team.â&#x20AC;?

Still, not everyone is thrilled with the idea. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in a shopping mall and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re walking along and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a funeral place?â&#x20AC;? retired high school teacher Stan Slome said incredulously. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That sounds too deadly.â&#x20AC;?

After thinking it over, however, he acknowledged itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something that could catch on.

At age 86, Slome said, he gets his share of mail from funeral operators inviting him to seminars at local restaurants, where he can have a meal on them while he hears a pitch on why he should use their services when he exits this mortal coil.

He doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t care for that either, he

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said, but he figures somebody is attending those seminars.

If the mall effort catches on, said Jessica Koth of the National Funeral Directors Association, credit the aging baby boom generation at least in part.

Historically, people have not wanted to talk, or even think, about their demise.

But baby boomers, the oldest of whom are pushing 70, are different. Many are beginning to press for so-called green funerals that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t require the use of coffins or burial vaults, Koth said. Others want custommade coffins or urns that say something about who they were.

That often means something that represents a favorite car or sports team, said Smith of Til We Meet Again.

He pointed out he even got a request once for a coffin built to resemble a portable toilet â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from a guy whose company made portable toilets.

With that mindset, could going to the mall and planning the whole deal just steps away from the Merry-Go-Round really be that unusual?

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The First National Bank in Amboy is Lee Countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s locallyowned Trust Department.We ensure that your property will be handled and ultimately passed onâ&#x20AC;Ś in the way you desire.

The First National Bank In Amboy

Where you come first.

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1314 N. Galena Ave. 728 S. Crawford Ave 800-216-0008

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WALNUT MANOR NURSING HOME HeritageOfCare.com/walnut 3 3ECOND 3T 7ALNUT s 815-379-2131