I’m the host for this week’s Best of Boomer
Blogs #307.
As spring is finally underway and May is
bringing us flowers, baby boomer bloggers are writing about what’s on their minds
as summer approaches.
While on vacation, Tom Sightings, of
Sightings Over Sixty, saw a billboard advertising a shooting range ... and
suddenly realized “Why Men Love Guns.”
What is one off the greatest loses for American Expats?
Watching an American football game. Arabian Tales Katie Foster finds an American football
league in the deserts of Dubai.
Laura Lee Carter, the Midlife Crisis Queen, has been taking a week off and doing
some reading for pleasure. Here is her
assessment of the new Debbie Reynolds memoir: ”Unsinkable.”
With Mother’s Day nearing, Lisa Garon Froman, of
Tao Flashes, offers an honest portrayal of her time as a Helicopter Mom in “An
Ode to Motherhood.” It’s a bittersweet account of her memories and regrets.
Karen D. Austin, of The Generation
Above Me, describes dystextia, a new stroke symptom established by doctors. Her
post examines the four documented case reports of dystextia. In most cases, the
inability to text properly was the only sign of stroke.
This week, John Agno, of So Baby Boomer, gives a primer on
annuities: With a typical annuity, a
customer hands over her retirement nest egg to an insurance company in exchange
for a promised future stream of payments. The insurer invests the money and
gets to keep any earnings beyond what’s guaranteed to the
policyholder. If the bets backfire and the insurance company fails, some losses
may be borne by customers and state guarantee funds, which puts boomers at risk.
My tips for baby boomer consumers this week are on giving donations to help
others through crowdfunding. While these websites are established to allow
solicitation of money for a variety of purposes, the organizations or individuals
who get the funds aren’t necessarily charities. Some contributions may not be
tax deductible, the websites usually take a percentage of the donation ranging
from 5 to 20 percent, and you may pay processing fees.
Be sure to check back next week to see what baby boomer
bloggers are writing about.
Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
