MATURE MARKET HEADLINES 1/9/2001
Getting the Word Out About Social Security
A person needs about 70% of their pre-retirement income to live a comfortable retirement. For the average worker Social Security replaces only about 40% of pre-retirement income, the balance must come from pensions and savings and investments.
"Americans need to make savings a personal budget priority," says Kenneth S. Apfel, Commissioner of Social Security. "Social Security will be there for you tomorrow, but the rest is up to you. Retirement security depends on personal savings." "Americans need to be active participants in their financial future," says Commissioner Apfel. "We want to help everyone make informed choices with their money and encourage all workers to begin saving today."
In response to the need for Americans to take more responsibility for retirement security, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the American Savings Education Council (ASEC) are partnering in order to educate Americans about the importance of planning for their financial futures. The partnering of SSA and ASEC blends the key elements of a comfortable retirement. Those elements are pensions and savings built on a foundation of Social Security.
ASEC's 2000 Retirement Confidence Survey reveals that 45% of American workers have not tried to calculate how much money they will need to save for a comfortable retirement. Highlights from the 2000 Retirement Confidence Survey reveal the following.
- Forty-five percent of American workers have not tried to calculate how much money they need to save for a comfortable retirement.
- Half of men reaching age 65 can expect to be alive at 82 and half of women reaching age 65 can expect to be alive at age 86. Yet, almost 2 in 10 workers expect that their retirement will last for 10 years or less.
- Most workers do not know that the retirement age for full Social Security benefits is gradually rising from 65 to 67. Many believe they will start collecting benefits before they are actually eligible.
- Though most workers know they can't rely strictly on Social Security for their retirement, many are ignorant about the basics of 401(k)s and similar retirement savings plans.
During the past year, SSA launched an online Benefits Planner where people can go to get benefit estimates. In addition, the Retirement Planner portion of the Benefits Planner is linked to ASEC's Ballpark Estimate worksheet. The link to the Ballpark worksheet enables individuals to combine their estimate of future Social Security benefits with estimates of income from pensions and savings to determine if they are saving enough for a comfortable retirement.
The SSA and ASEC plan to leverage their resources to: 1) generate ownership and commitments from potential campaign partners; 2) develop a comprehensive campaign mission and media outreach plan; and 3) build momentum for The White House/Congressional National Summit on Retirement Savings scheduled for Fall 2001.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
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Breaking the Watch: Retirement in America
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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AoA Protects Rights of Vulnerable Elders
Residents of nursing homes, board and care homes, and adult care facilities and their families have strong advocates in the nation’s long-term care ombudsmen, according to the annual report, National Long Term Care Ombudsman Report released by the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA).
Volunteer ombudsmen placed in facilities help residents solve problems "on the spot". A primary area of focus of ombudsmen is the involuntary discharge of residents from nursing homes. Another area is the
improper use and creative alternatives to the use of physical and chemical restraints.
Ombudsmen investigated 201,053 complaints made by more than 121,686 individuals, including residents, family members and friends, and facility staff. The ombudsmen resolved or partially resolved about 70 percent of these complaints. Eighty-two percent of cases were in nursing home settings. Seventeen percent involved board and care, assisted living and similar facilities. One percent were in non-facility settings. The complaints range from medication management to life-threatening neglect and physical abuse.
Insufficient staff to care for residents was the major institutional long-term care concern most frequently identified by the states in their reports. Ombudsmen linked low staffing to low wages and benefits and labor shortage and described how lack of staff relates directly to poor care for residents, cited as a major issue by many states. The need for adequate numbers of trained staff was also highlighted in the recent Institute of Medicine Report, "Improving the Quality of Long Term Care".
Here's an example of a successful intervention by ombudsmen documented in the AoA report. The owners of a small nursing home were behind in paying their bills and could no longer afford to continue operations. Their solution was to dump the nursing home residents in a local hospital emergency room. The local ombudsman was notified of this "discharge plan" and immediately visited the nursing home to reassure the residents that the owners’ threat would not happen and to support the staff members who remained to care for the residents. The state survey agency established temporary management to keep the home open until all the residents could move. Within a few weeks, the state placed more than 30 residents in other nursing homes.
AoA’s Long Term Care Ombudsman Program is a critical component of the Older Americans Act Title VII, Vulnerable Elder Rights Protections Activities. The annual report is based on the National Ombudsman Reporting System, developed by ombudsmen to help manage state and local systems and to provide important national statistics and information.
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AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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High Protein Diet High Risk for Elder Bones
Elderly women who get a much higher intake of their dietary protein from animal products rather than vegetables have an increased risk of bone loss and hip fracture, according to University of California (UCSF), researchers. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, suggests that women may be able to improve bone health by eating more vegetables.
"We should be encouraged to eat more vegetables and realize that our diets play an important role for our bones as we get older," says lead author Deborah Sellmeyer, MD, UCSF assistant professor of medicine and director of the Bone Density Clinic at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion. "There are lots of things we can do to improve bone health."
The women, ages 65 to 80, were grouped into three categories: those with a high ratio of animal to vegetable protein, a middle range ratio and low ratio, Sellmeyer explained. Researchers took the ratio and compared it with bone mineral density, bone loss and fractures in a seven year follow up period.
While there was no difference in initial bone mineral density among the groups of women, the high ratio category had three times the rate of bone loss as the women in the low group during the follow up period. The high group also had nearly four times the rate of hip fractures compared to the low group. This is after
researchers adjusted for age, weight, estrogen use, tobacco use, exercise, total calcium intake and total protein intake.
"We adjusted for all the things that could have had an impact on the relationship of high animal protein intake to bone loss and hip fractures," Sellmeyer said. "But we found the relationship was still there." The most significant possible reason for this link between high animal protein and bone loss and hip fractures is because animal products have a high amount of acid, Sellmeyer said. Too much acid may be detrimental to bone health.
"Protein is very important in maintaining strong bones and muscles. We don't want people to stop eating animal protein," she said. "But we do want people to work in more fruits and vegetables into their diets." This study is yet another reason to eat more fruits and vegetables."
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AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Positive Thinking Prevents Premature Death
Older adults who feel they have control over roles they value live longer than those who don't, according to a new study. Being a parent, grandparent or provider can add value to an elderly person's life. And having control over such roles appears to be more important to people as they age than feelings of control over life as a whole. This finding is reported in "Psychology and Aging", published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Study participants were asked to choose three roles they valued the most in their lives and rank order them. Parenting, grandparenting, other relative roles, friend, homemaker, provider, voluntary worker, church or club member were chosen as the top roles. The participants were also asked about their feelings of control over life as a whole.
The participants who scored higher on role-specific personal control measures tended to adopt healthier behaviors and were more likely to be alive at the six and seven year follow up, say the authors. On the other hand, the participants that scored lower on role-specific personal control measures were more likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol and suffer from obesity; all risk factors for premature deaths.
Older people are more likely to live longer if they are able to maintain a sense of control over the role that is most important to them, say the authors. Those with feelings of control over their most important role were less likely to engage in unhealthy behavior and suffer a premature death than those who felt that they did not exercise much control over the role that was most important to them. "Control over the second and third most important roles were not related to mortality nor were feelings of control over life as a whole," said Dr. Krause.
As we age, our physical and psychological resources decline, said Dr. Krause. However, there is considerable individual variation in the aging process and in where people place their values on why they like being alive. "A goal for the gerontologists is to be aware of these individual differences and be aware of what people value the most."
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Elder Fitness An Exercise in Self-Confidence
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Health Issues Dominate Scientific "Wish List"
Ponce de Leon is alive and ... well, not exactly. Nevertheless, it appears that more and more Americans still seek the Fountain of Youth. Maybe we don't wish to live forever. But, we do hope that all our years on earth are spent in relative good health.
As a case in point, health concerns and medical problems dominate a "wish list" of challenges that two-thirds of Americans would like science to solve in the next 25 years, according to a poll conducted for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Bayer Corporation.
The Gallup Organization polled Americans about their views on science, technology, education and the future in the sixth annual Bayer Facts of Science Education survey. Key findings include the following hopes for future scientific discoveries.
- Finding a cure for cancer was the number one problem identified by three in ten adults surveyed.
- Disease prevention, AIDS/HIV and medical breakthroughs also were considered important.
- Environmental issues and energy round out the top ten list of problems science should address.
The survey also found Americans strongly support investments in science. Nine out of ten believe that science and technology has changed life for the better over the past 100 years and contributed to America's economic success. But many of those surveyed also cautioned that the U.S needs to improve its education system for this success to continue. Ninety-one percent believe that science education should have the same or a higher priority in school curriculum as reading, writing and mathematics do.
Eight of ten respondents, says the National Science Foundation, feel that governors should strengthen science education in the states by emphasizing inquiry-based, hands-on learning, over strict reliance on textbooks and rote memorization.
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Live Healthy Now, Die Later ... Much Later
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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