The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

More women in their 60s living with their friends

Some say the ‘60s hippies are going back to the commune. Others call the growing number of female baby boomers rooming together “‘The Golden Girls’ phenomenon.”

It’s really about women choosing to live with friends, Martha Nelson, author of “Black Chokeberry,” novel about three older women who unexpectedly end up sharing a home, said in a statement.

“As a group, we’ve been empowered more than past generations of women,” said Nelson. “We’re more worldly, stronger, financially savvy, and healthier than our ancestors… and we know what we want.”

Increasingly, what women want is to actively age with the camaraderie, laughter, understanding, and support of other women who share their ideas of healthy lifestyles, good food from their own gardens, green living, and other activities.

In 2010, 480,000 boomer women lived with a least one unrelated female, according to an AARP analysis.

And, the number of U.S. HomeShare programs, which help connect people interested in sharing a house, has been steadily rising since the Great Recession.

“This concept is really trending on the East and West coasts and is very big in Europe,” said Ryan Cowmeadow, vice president of the National Shared Housing Resource Center, a clearinghouse of HomeShare programs.

HomeShare’s numbers are up about 15 percent since 2007, and about 75 percent of applicants are female.

The cohousing movement – where residents have private living spaces but share common areas, such as dining rooms, and tasks, such as cooking – started in Denmark and is becoming popular in the United States.

Cohousing can be found in more than 200 communities in America, with the states of California, Colorado, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington offering the most cohousing opportunities.

Nelson said more women are interested in living with other women because women usually live longer than men, and men are more likely to remarry after a divorce or the death of a spouse.

“And fundamentally, I think it’s as much about the special bonds women share,” she said. “We form these wonderful, supportive, 'tell the truth' friendships, which survive the demands of husbands, children, and careers.”

A former journalist and educator, Nelson’s marriage ended in divorce when she was in her 50s. After regaining her balance as a single woman, she turned to her friends as she stepped back into life.

"I came to fully understand the importance of women friends in my life," she said. "They are the gold standard and as we age, they are critical to happiness, regardless if one is married or in a committed relationship."

The practical considerations of creating close living communities – include health and safety, care in times of an accident or medical emergency, and financial considerations – are important for many women who find themselves single or widowed after long marriages, Nelson said.

But boomers are known for demanding more than creature comforts from life, she said. “We want to be happy; we’re healthy, active and we want to enjoy ourselves as we age. We want to travel, go to a movie with a neighbor or housemate, cook a meal, share a garden, and feel that we are contributing to our communities.

“We’re strong women, and we can choose to live the way we want as we get older,” Nelson said. “Very often, that will mean with other women in close knit communities."

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

How consumers vote with their forks

By Nancy Mehagian, Health Care Practitioner and Author of “The Supernatural Kids Cookbook”

Guest blogger

When it comes to food quality we vote with our forks every day. Even though statistics show there is a rise in childhood obesity and diabetes due to the abundance of processed foods with high sugar, fat, and sodium contents as well as huge portion sizes, I remain an optimist. 

The tide is turning, and we are getting ourselves back to the garden. The pendulum has swung so far in the wrong direction we have no choice but to swing back.

Things have changed a great deal since I wrote my first natural foods cookbook for children in 1977.

Organic, natural foods were looked on as the food of the flower children. I couldn’t even write on the book cover that the recipes were all vegetarian without being mocked. 

Now, farmers’ markets are popping up everywhere. Some schools have started gardens and have classes in the culinary arts. My local supermarket has an ever-expanding section of organic produce while soy, rice, almond, and even coconut milks are now in the dairy case.

Oprah and Dr. Oz have jumped on the “let’s get healthy bandwagon” while books, documentaries, and Jamie Oliver are exposing the unappetizing facts about the ways some of our food is being produced. 

Alice Waters sparked a movement to eat locally, and Michele Obama even planted an organic garden at the White House. It all looks like heaven to me.

The cultural diversity found in most cities has been another contributing factor to an awareness of eating food that will actually sustain us. So many traditional foods, the ones that are passed down through the generations, have gone mainstream and we’ve discovered that not only do we love fish tacos, couscous, hummus, and Pad Thai noodles, but that these dishes contain healthful, natural ingredients.

I have always been a believer that food is our best medicine, and so the quality of what we are putting into our bodies of the utmost importance, especially when it comes to our growing children. In a sense, our future depends on the health of our children. And we owe them that.

There are several things you can do to vote with your forks every day and keep things moving in the right direction:

• Get your children off to a healthy start by exposing them to natural foods early in life.

• Request that your local markets carry more organic food items and locally grown produce.

• Learn to read labels and avoid those products that contain additives or were grown outside the country.

• When you go out to eat, support the restaurants that are making an effort to serve healthier, more natural cuisine or expose your children to different ethnic cuisines to expand their awareness of new foods.

• Educate your children by taking them to a local farmers’ market so that they may sample the produce and decide what they like. If you don’t have a farmers’ market local farmers will sometimes allow people to come and pick their own produce, which makes for a great family outing.

• Start a backyard garden to enable children to make the connection between how food is grown and how it comes to the table. Kids who might not like vegetables change their minds when they eat something they grew themselves. Backyard gardens are a great source of fun and family togetherness. If you don’t have a backyard, you can use containers on a patio or windowsill.  It’s still a thrill.

• Studies now show that family dinners contribute to less-troubled teens. Get the entire family involved in shopping and meal preparation, then enjoy the time spent together eating food prepared with love.

• Take cooking classes and use a variety of health-minded cookbooks to create new meals and keep life interesting.

• Support organizations that monitor health and food safety.

• Keep it simple and take the time to enjoy what you’re eating.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Top 10 last-minute Valentine’s Day tips

I don’t know about you, but lately I’ve been busy, busy, busy. How about you? Has your schedule been so hectic that you’re still wondering what to do for your special someone on Valentine’s Day?

Here are 10 suggestions to help you finalize your plans:

1. Candy, flowers, and jewelry continue to be popular Valentine’s Day gifts for women. Look for organic, fair-trade chocolate to go green in your gift giving. 
2. Select a local florist who you know has been in business in the community for some time. My daughter bought roses for Valentine’s Day from a firm that set up an operation in an abandoned gas station in Miami. The flowers didn’t last long.
3. Select a special bottle of wine and plan a dinner made up of your loved one’s favorite dishes. Chocolate and red wine are nice for dessert. 
4. Pick out a great book, if your special someone is a booklover. For nonreaders, skip this hint. 
5. Enlarge a favorite photo of you and your partner and select an attractive frame. Again, this only is for those who love photos. 
6. Put together a gift basket of items that your partner loves – coffee, tea, brownies, perfumes, or chocolates are good choices. You can also focus on your partner’s hobbies: golf, photography, music, gardening, fishing, baking, chess or other board games, computer games, reading, knitting, household projects, or blogging. Or, if you really out of time, buy a gift basket that’s already prepared. 
7. Avoid these gifts: For women, gifts to help with weight loss; appliances such as vacuum cleaners or coffee pots; cleaning supplies including mops; sex gifts; or wrong-sized lingerie. For men, flowers at work, chocolates, candles, underwear with hearts, soap or deodorant, stuffed animal, a gym membership, or tools. 
8. Talk with your partner about whether he or she would enjoy a special movie or play after your dinner out. 
9. Think of a place where you and your partner could go for a special treat together, such as a picnic in February. It’s not too late to plan a special overnight trip to a nearby exciting location. With the slow economic recovery and gas increasing in price, "staycations" or vacations near home are increasing in popularity. 
10. Buy a gift card. A gift card, while often viewed as a weak gift because you didn’t have the time or energy to select something more personal or creative, is better than nothing. Make sure you remind your love one to treat a gift card like cash; use it right away or set up a system to keep track of it. Read the fine print to see if fees will apply.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were your best and worst consumer experiences this week?

Which consumer happenings cheered you recently and which ones made you want to scream or weep?

Here are my best and worst consumer experiences this week:

My best: A book on how to make paper airplanes

 

When I was at the Museum of Flight last week for the Washington Press Association’s awards luncheon, I stopped in the gift shop to look for a present for my grandchildren.

I saw a book I liked, "Kids’ Paper Air Plane Book" by Ken Blackburn and Jeff Lammers.

It was a big hit with my grandchildren, age 6. We started out with the Slice, Count, and Butterfly. The first two were the best fliers.

We enjoyed making and flying the airplanes in the book. It was a great, fun-filled activity for kids.

My worst: Getting my Linksys router to work again

Working with Linksys to reconfigure my router for Wi-Fi was frustrating.

First, it was irritating to find out that I’d have to pay $30 for technical support or $40 if I wanted to pay for six months of technical assistance or six sessions.

Second, the first technician who helped me was hard to understand at times. Then she disconnected me when she attempted to transfer me to the place where I was to leave my credit card number. Super, super frustrating.

Finally, the second technician on the third call was able to make the router function properly. At last.

Cisco certainly needs to do work to improve its customer service.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were your best and worst consumer experiences this week?

Which consumer happenings cheered you recently and which ones made you want to scream or weep? 


Here are my best and worst consumer experiences this week: 



My best: Celebrating family birthdays

Today is my sister’s birthday and mine is coming up soon.

We celebrated with my niece Suzi and her children Tyler, 5, and Savannah, 3, at Anthony’s Beach Café in Edmonds, Wash. It was fun.

I also enjoyed taking photos of the waterfront, although the weather wasn’t that great.

My worst: Missing out on coupon savings

Busy with my income taxes this week, I didn’t have my coupons organized when I went shopping.

I made a purchase at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts. However, I had misplaced my 20 percent off coupon so I didn’t get those savings.

Since my yearly Barnes & Noble membership expired recently, I haven’t been receiving coupons. When I bought three books this week, I missed out on coupon savings.

Now that my taxes have been filed, I’m going to get my coupons organized again.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Recall of the Week: Home improvement books with errors that could cause electrical shock or fire hazards

 

About 951,000 home improvement books published by Oxmoor House Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., are being recalled.

The books contain errors in the technical diagrams and wiring instructions that could lead consumers to incorrectly install or repair electrical wiring, posing an electrical shock or fire hazard to consumers, reports the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall involves nine home improvement books, as listed below:

• "AmeriSpec Home Repair Handbook" – January 2006

• "Lowe’s Complete Home Improvement and Repair" – September 2005 and December 1999

• "Lowe’s Complete Home Wiring" – May 2008

• "Sunset Basic Home Repairs" – February 1995 and January 1975

• "Sunset Complete Home Wiring" – December 1999

• "Sunset Complete Patio Book" – January 2006, January 1998, and April 1990

• "Sunset Home Repair Handbook" – October 1998 and February 1985

• "Sunset Water Gardens" – January 2004

• "Sunset You Can Build – Wiring" – January 2009

Click here to see the ISBN numbers for these books.

Printed in the United States, the books were sold at home improvement stores and bookstores nationwide from January 1975 through December 2009 for between $13 and $35.

Consumers should immediately stop using these books and contact Oxmoor House for a full refund, the commission advises.

For additional information, contact Oxmoor House at 866-696-7602 anytime, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.sunsetrecall.com.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Consumers caught in the middle of e-book readers’ war

John Agno, who blogs at So Baby Boomer, was one of the 900,000 people who bought a new e-reader during November and December of 2009. Agno’s selection was Amazon.com's Kindle.

When he received an e-books gift card from Barnes and Noble as a Christmas gift, a problem occurred.

When Agno called Barnes and Noble’s customer service to ask how he could buy e-books from them for the Kindle, he was told, "You can't."

In addition, Barnes and Noble said Agno couldn’t get cash for his gift card, unless it was required in his state.

This is a problem for book-loving consumers. You buy an e-reader, but you can’t use it for the e-books of different companies. Consumers are caught in the middle as new technologies are developed.

Once again, it confirms that corporations think more about their profits than what works well for consumers.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Top 10 consumer books of the decade

Recently, I wrote about the best consumer books of 2009.

Below are my choices for the best consumer books of the decade. You can order them through my blog by clicking on the Amazon.com ad in the column to the right.

1. "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All American Meal" by Eric Schlosser. Schlosser describes how fast food has affected everything from ranching and farming to diets and health, from marketing and labor practices to larger economic trends.

2. "Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth" by Margaret Atwood. Atwood examines debt, history, society, and literature to shed light on the current financial turmoil.

3. "The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" by Michael Pollan. A thorough examination of the industrialization of the modern American food system and what we eat.

4. "Simplify Your Life" by Elaine St. James. An easy-to-read book that offers tips to help consumers reduce possessions and processes in their lives.

5. "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominquez and Vicki Robins. This book offers a systematic way to look at your money and what you really want in life so that you can develop a unique action plan to achieve your goals.

6. "The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community" by David C. Korten. Korten believes a great, grassroots social movement can create the world we really want.

7. "The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way" by Wayne Dyer, Ph.D. Dyer believes intention is a force that allows the act of creation to take place.

8. "Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs" by Melody Petersen. The former New York Times reporter examines the pharmaceutical industry and its influence on America's medical system.

9. "The Prosperous Retirement – Guide to the New Reality" by Michael Stein. The new retirement, in which people are living longer and have a healthier and more vigorous in old age, has three stages – the go-go phase, the go-slow phase, and the no-go phase.

10. "Nickel and Dimed: How (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich. Ehrenreich lived for two years on the wages of the average unskilled American worker to find out how America's working poor live.

Add these consumer books to your library to help you improve your consumer choices and reach your goals.

Disclosure: When you order books through my blog on Amazon.com, I receive a small commission.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What does spirituality mean in America?

 

A new survey by Parade magazine reports 69 percent of Americans believe in God, 77 percent pray outside of religious services, and 75 percent believe it’s a parent’s responsibility to give children a religious upbringing.

However, even though 45 percent of respondents called themselves religious, 50 percent said they rarely or never attend worship services.

The Parade survey offers an interesting look at spirituality in America.

In analyzing the data, Christine Wicker, author of the book "The Fall of the Evangelical Nation," said what Americans are doing today is separating spirituality from religion, with many people disavowing organized practice altogether while privately maintaining some form of worship.

The old terms – "atheist" and "agnostic" – are no longer catch-alls for everyone outside traditional belief, Wicker said. For example, 24 percent of respondents put themselves into a whole new category: "spiritual but not religious."

That phrase means different things to different people, she said. Some may be members of traditional religions but want to signal that they aren’t legalistic or rigid. At the other end of the spectrum, "spiritual but not religious" can apply to someone who has combined diverse beliefs and practices into a personal faith that fits no standard definition.

As Americans’ ideas of spirituality have become more expansive, so have their attitudes toward people of different faiths, Wicker said. Only 12 percent of respondents said that their own religion was the only true faith, 12 percent said no religion has validity, and 59 percent said all religions are valid.

Take a look at the survey results. It makes for interesting reading.

For example, only 15 percent of respondents thought religion should be a key factor in political decisions, while 58 percent said religion and politics should not mix at all.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What America can learn from other nations on how to provide affordable, universal health care

The United States not only spends more money on health care than any other nation but also leaves 45 million consumers uninsured, allowing about 22,000 to die annually from easily treatable diseases.

Washington Post foreign correspondent T.R. Reid, author of "The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care," was recently interviewed on National Public Radio about his travels around the world investigating the health care systems in other wealthy countries.

To gather information on health care systems, he went to doctors in the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, and Britain to see what they would suggest for treatment for an old shoulder injury.

Reid said that although he did receive a recommendation to have surgery, he declined. However, he did receive help by massage treatments.

The interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross on WHYY, "T.R. Reid: Looking Overseas for 'Healing of America,'" is worth taking the time to listen to.

Reid also wrote an article "Five Myths About Health Care Around the World" on The Washington Post.

He said in the article that other industrialized democracies have faced problems like the U.S., and they've found ways to cover everybody – and still spend far less than is spent in America.

Here are some highlights on Reid’s five myths:

Myth 1. It's all socialized medicine out there.

Many wealthy countries – including Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, and Switzerland – provide universal coverage using private doctors, private hospitals, and private insurance plans.

Myth 2. Overseas, care is rationed through limited choices or long lines.

Studies by the Commonwealth Fund and others report that many nations – Germany, Britain, and Austria – outperform the U.S. on measures such as waiting times for appointments and for elective surgeries.

Myth 3. Foreign health-care systems are inefficient, bloated bureaucracies.

U.S. health insurance companies have the highest administrative costs in the world; they spend roughly 20 cents of every dollar for nonmedical costs, such as paperwork, reviewing claims, and marketing. France's health insurance industry covers everybody and spends about 4 percent on administration. Canada's universal insurance system, run by government employees, spends 6 percent on administration.

Myth 4. Cost controls stifle innovation.

The U.S. is home to groundbreaking medical research, but so are other countries with much lower cost structures. Hip and knee replacements are a French innovation. Deep-brain stimulation to treat depression is a Canadian breakthrough. Many of the drugs promoted on American television, including Viagra, come from British, Swiss, or Japanese labs.

Myth 5. Health insurance has to be cruel.

American health insurance companies routinely reject applicants with a "preexisting condition." They employ armies of adjusters to deny claims. If a customer faces big medical bills, the insurer's "rescission department" digs through the records looking for grounds to cancel the policy, often while the consumer is still in the hospital. Foreign health insurance companies must accept all applicants, and they can't cancel as long as you pay your premiums.

Reid’s research helps clear up the misconceptions that have been circulating about the health care systems in other nations.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist