The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Top 10 baby boomer challenges

What are the top 10 difficulties baby boomers face today?

With the recession continuing, many boomers are stressed about money, jobs, and housing.

Here’s my take on the top 10 things worrying boomer consumers these days:

1. Setting a retirement date

With investment returns and housing prices down, many boomers are postponing retirement.

2. Keeping a job

Older workers are often the first to be laid off, so boomers have concerns about being able to remain in the workforce. Or, they’re unemployed and looking for work.

3. Declining health

As boomers get older, the chances of becoming ill – including developing a serious illness or having a heart attack – increase. 

4. Rising health care costs

Health care spending has risen about 2.4 percent faster than GDP since 1970. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project that by 2018 health care spending will be more than $4.3 trillion or $13,100 per resident and account for 20.3 percent of GDP. Meanwhile, the quality of health care diminishes, including an increased risk of getting an infection when you go to the hospital.

5. Dwindling home values

In 2008, home sales prices fell an average of 9.5 percent, the largest annual decrease in 39 years.

6. Handling family relationships

Tough economic times make it more difficult to visit with adult children and their families who are spread across the country. Or, adult children may need to move back home due to job losses and financial setbacks. 

7. Increasing costs and the inability to pay off debts

Costs are continuing to rise while raises and promotions disappear, making it more difficult to pay off credit card debt.

8. Decreasing leisure activities

With money tight, the opportunity for vacations and health club memberships are reduced. 

9. Increasing stress levels

More demands at work, less time to spend with family and friends, and the intrigues of social networking make it difficult to find a time to relax.

10. Increasing declines in environmental quality

Although the Obama Administration has plans to turn around the environmental destruction of recent years, the sweeping changes needed aren’t yet in place.

Let me what’s of concern to you as a baby boomer. 

Tomorrow’s post will discuss “Top 10 Reasons for Baby Boomers to Be Optimistic.”

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Safety rules for children's toy, other consumer products delayed

It’s a disappointing decision for parents and grandparents wanting to buy safer toys after a troubling two-year period when millions of children’s products such as toys, clothing, and books were recalled.

Product safety regulations put aside

Testing and certification requirements for manufacturers and importers of products regulated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are being delayed for one year.

The requirements are part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act passed by Congress last year.

However, starting tomorrow, other parts of the act are being implemented for total lead content for products for children 12 and under, phthalates limits for certain products, mandatory toy standards, and other requirements.

That means that toy manufacturers and importers will have to meet new standards set out in the act, but they won’t need to test or certify that they’ve done so.

The delay in requirements for testing and certification is confusing for parents and grandparents. On one hand, standards must be met. On the other hand, companies don’t have to do tests or certify that the standards are being met.

Why the commission delayed new requirements

The commission justified the one-year delay by saying it provides limited, temporary relief to the crafters, children's garment manufacturers, and toy makers who would have been subject to the testing and certification required under the act.

"However, all businesses, including… handmade toy and apparel makers, crafters, and home-based small businesses, must still be sure that their products conform to all safety standards and similar requirements, including the lead and phthalates provisions of the CPSIA," the agency said in a statement.

The commission said handmade garment makers should know whether the zippers, buttons, and other fasteners they’re using contain lead. Likewise, handmade toy manufacturers need to know whether their products, if using plastic or soft flexible vinyl, contain phthalates.

The one-year delay in enforcement on testing and certification does not address thrift and second-hand stores and small retailers because they’re not required to test and certify products under the act, the commission said. The products they sell, including those in inventory on February 10, 2009, must not contain more than 600 ppm lead in any accessible part.

Consumer organizations question decision

Consumer groups have expressed their concerns about the one-year delay in testing and certification.

David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, is quoted on CNN Money.com as saying he thinks some businesses may not move quickly to comply with the new standards due to the confusion surrounding the commission’s decision.

Johanna Neumann, executive director of Maryland PIRG, said in a quote on ABC2News.com that the commission had six months to address concerns about the new legislation:

At its core, the CPSC’s decision benefits the big firms whose rampant, recurring violations of the old, weaker limits led to passage of the new law. In a nutshell, given the choice between protecting America’s littlest consumers and protecting the industry’s bottom line, the Consumer Product Safety Commission sided with industry.

For parents and grandparents seeking safer toys and children’s products, the commission’s delay of attempts by Congress to address toy safety is disappointing.

Note: The photos show jewelry sets recalled by the commission because some of the jewelry contains high levels of lead.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What should grandparents do about toy safety until protections from new law are in place?

Last week, President Bush signed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

The law will ban lead and phthalates in toys, require mandatory third-party testing of toys, strengthen standards for all terrain vehicles, and revamp the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Phthalates are chemicals added to plastics to make them flexible.

Since the law won't take effect for six months, parents and grandparents may not see safer toys on the market until 2009.

An exception: In a post, "In Search of Safe Toys," Seattle Post-Intelligencer consumer reporter Phuong Cat Le said Wal-Mart and Toys-R-Us have indicated they're planning to phase out phthalates in toys by the end of the year.

What should parents and grandparents to about unsafe toys until the new law takes effect?

Phuong's post advises soft, squeezable plastic teethers, rattles, and other toys should be disposed of. Buy replacements after the ban takes effect. Substitutes for teething rings can be cold, wet cloths or fabric teethers or having babies such on frozen celery stalks or frozen mini-bagels.

Her post also offers these Web sites and blogs for safe alternatives:

healthytoys.org

zrecs.blogspot.com

squidoo.com/saferbabytheethers

For details on the new law, see "Toy Safety Law: What's in It?"

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Visit science museum when you travel to South Florida

If you get a chance to take a trip to Florida, your kids or grandchildren would love a visit to the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale.

On a recent vacation, I went with my daughter and 4-year-old grandchildren. We had a great time.

The museum offers more than 200 interactive exhibits. You'll see:

• A 11,000 square-foot nature trail with information about the Everglades.

• A space exhibit with a simulated trip to the Moon or Mars.

• The Discovery Center, designed for children under age 7.

• The largest living Atlantic coral reef in captivity.

• A frog exhibit with 15 live frog habitats and 12 interactive stations.

• Sharks.

• Bats.

• A 12-foot snake.

• Alligators.

• Turtles.

• Iguanas.

An IMAX film Theater also is available.

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Got car dents? Watch out for common summer fraud

If a man approaches you in a parking lot and tells you that he has a tool in his trunk that can smooth out the dents in your car cheaply, don't fall for the scam.

He might have a device that he'll use, but he'll ask for money upfront to complete the job. But, you'll never see him again.

It happened to a friend of mine. The tool smoothed the dent a bit, but the con artist never returned my friend's calls about finishing the work.

The cheap fee of $150 was a rip-off.

This is a typical summer scam. Summer's not over yet. Scam artists are still out there, preying on unsuspecting consumers.

Tell anyone who approaches you in a parking lot about repairing dents in your car to take a hike.

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Buying safe toys for your grandchildren

I seldom buy toys for my grandchildren anymore. I usually buy books.

Why? Because more than 25 million unsafe toys were recalled in 2007.

What's the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission doing about the serious problem of unsafe toys flooding the American marketplace?

Manufacturers are testing more toys and more inspections are occurring, Patty Davis, commission spokesman, told me in an interview. "Toys are under more scrutiny that ever before."

When unsafe topys are recalled, they're to be removed from stores.

Grandparents need to sign up to get automatic recall notification from the commission. See www.cpsc.gov. That way they will have timely information about new toy recalls. The site can also be used to get information on recent recalls.

Grandparents can check  www.healthytoys.org  to see if the toys they are interested in purchasing were found to have toxic levels of chemicals in them. HealthyToys.org is based on research conducted by environmental health organizations and other researchers around the country.

Grandparents should arm themselves with information about toy safety, says Donald Mays, senior director for product safety planning at Consumers Union, publishers of Consumer Reports.

If grandparents are concerned about lead in toys they have purchased, they can order a testing kit, says Mays. The December issue of Consumer Reports lists some kits that were tested by Consumers Union.

Grandparents should watch out for toys that have small powerful magnets called rare-earth magnets, he advises. When two or more of the magnets are swallowed, they can cause serious problems.

Mays also advises grandparents to read labels and buy age appropriate toys. See two booklets from the commission for information: "Which Toy for Which Child (0-5)" and "Which Toy for Which Child (6-12)."

Bills have been introduced in Congress to strengthen the commission's watchdog role and hold manufacturers responsible for bringing unsafe products into the marketplace. Some states also are considering toy safety legislation.

Watching your medications when you're with your grandchildren

Since I've written about children being poisoned by household items over the years, I'm really careful about putting my purse, which contains medication and supplements, out of the reach of my four-year-old twin grandchildren. However, on my last visit, when I came downstairs in the morning twice, my purse was easily with reach of my grandchildren.

Not good. A young child can get into her grandmother's purse and swallow medication in a few seconds.

More than two million poison exposures were reported to local poison centers in 2005, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. About half of these exposures occurred in children under the age of six. Ninety percent of the poisonings took place in the home.

The most common poisons among children are:

• Cosmetics and personal care products.
• Cleaning substances.
• Pain medicine/fever-reducers.
• Coins, thermometers.
• Plants.
• Diaper care, acne preparations, antiseptics.
• Cough and cold preparations.
• Pesticides.
• Vitamins.
• Gastrointestinal preparations.
• Antimicrobials.
• Arts, crafts, and office supplies.
• Antihistamines.
• Hormones and hormone antagonists (diabetes medications, contraceptives).
• Hydrocarbons (lamp oil, kerosene, gasoline, lighter fluid).

If your grandchild is unconscious, not breathing, or having convulsions or seizures due to poison contact or ingestion, call 911immediately. If your grandchild has come in contact with poison, and has mild or no symptoms, call your poison control center at 1-800-222-1222.

Poison Prevention and Treatment Tips, a one-page fact sheet by the American Academy of Pediatrics, is a great resource to print out and hang on your refrigerator.

Poison Prevention Week 2008 is March 16-22. The association offers helpful materials on preventing poisonings in children.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission fact sheet, "Locked Up Poisons," also provides important information for preventing poisoning tragedies.

My next post on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will discuss buying safe toys for your grandchild.

Making your home safe for your grandchild

Each year, 2.5 million children are injured or killed by hazards in the home, according to the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Some examples from the commission include:

• 97 crib-related deaths from 2002 through 2004.
• 23 deaths and 64 nonfatal incidents involving the entanglement of children’s clothing drawstrings over the past 20 years.
• An average of about 260 children under 5 years old drown in pools nationwide annually. Another 2,725 children are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year for near-drowning incidents. Most of these cases involve residential pools.
• 311 non-pool drownings of children younger than 5 years of age from 2002 through 2004. Bathtubs were involved in most, 71 percent, along with buckets, toilets, and other sources of standing water.
• More than 200 children have strangled in window-blind cords since 1980.
• About 15 deaths due to choking of children under age 3. Some of these deaths involve known hazards such as small toys, toy parts, balloons, balls, and marbles. Some deaths result from hidden hazards, small objects not intended for use by children but that accidentally end up in their hands and mouths.
• 15 injuries when electronic game systems caught fire or overheated since the beginning of 2000.
• 17 deaths of babies, most under 12 months old, who suffocated or strangled when they became entangled in sheets in their cribs or beds. Two of these deaths were with fitted crib sheets.
• 36 TV tip-over-related deaths and 65 furniture tip-over deaths from 2000 through 2005. More than 80 percent of the deaths involved young children. Additionally, in 2005 at least 3,000 children younger than 5 were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms because of injuries associated with TV tip-overs.
• 1 death and 33 cases where children swallowed loose magnets and required emergency surgery.
• About 200,000 playground injuries each year.
• More than 200 babies died while in playpens since 1988. In almost 100 of these deaths, soft bedding or improper or extra mattresses were present in the playpen.
• About 36 children younger than 5 died each year as a result of ingesting poisonous substances found in and around the home from 2002 through 2004. About 91,000 young children visited hospital emergency rooms as a result of unintentional poisoning in 2005.
• About 6,700 emergency room injuries involving powered scooters occurred in children under age 15 from July 2003 through June 2004.
• About 12 children 10 years old and younger die each year, and more than 4,000 are treated in hospital emergency rooms for window fall-related injuries.

Here are checklists and tips from the commission to help keep your grandchild safe in your home.

• Child Care Safety Checklist for Parents and Child Care Providers

• Baby Safety Checklist

• Safety Tips for Sleeping Babies

• Childcare Safety Checklist

• Childproofing Your Home

• Back to School Safety Checklist

• Water Safety Tips

• Safety Devices Help Prevent Death and Injuries

• Preventing TV and Furniture Tipover Deaths

• Outdoor Home Playground Safety Handbook

My next post on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will cover watching your medications when you're with your grandchild.

Boomers stepping up to raise their grandchildren in record numbers

More than 2.4 million grandparents are raising their grandchildren. They recognized the need to offer their grandchildren stability in a family emergency. They changed their plans to give their grandchildren the love and support they need.

Slightly more than half -- 1.3 million -- of these families contain both grandparents; 1 million have only a grandmother; and 150,000 have only a grandfather.

Of the grandparents raising grandchildren, 55 percent of grandmothers and 47 percent of grandfathers are under age 55. And 19 percent of grandmothers and 15 percent of grandfathers are under age 45.

AARP offers an overview that will help grandparents address issues and learn where to get can help.

Topics include:

• Your legal status.
• Your finances.
• Your housing.
• Your grandchild's education.
• Your health.
• AARP resources.
• Other resources.
• Books.

AARP also offers other information for grandparents raising children:

• State fact sheets about the range of support services, benefits, and policies grandparents need to fulfill their caregiving role.

• GrandCare News, a free newsletter. The newsletter is sent through the mail.

Other resources include:   

• Aging Internet Information Notes -- Administration on Aging.

• Grandparents Raising Grandchildren -- Child Welfare Information Gateway.

• 10 Tips for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: How to Avoid Financial Shipwreck When Raising Your Children's Children -- MSNBC.

• Tips for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren -- ParentingWeekly.

• Move Over Nanny, Here Comes Granny! A Generation of Grandparents Do the Second Shift -- Baby Boomer Village.

Tomorrow's Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will discuss making your home safe for your grandchild.

Have questions about grandparenting? The Web offers ideas, answers

More than one in three baby boomers are grandparents with the average age being 53.

For baby boomers who have questions about becoming grandparents or what their role should be, the Web offers a wide variety of sources of information. Like all Internet research, you need to pick and choose from among the offerings. Some are very good, and some poor.

Below is a listing of Web sites on grandparenting.

• Grandboomers.com examines the role of grandboomers and address questions that come up, such as a frequent inquiry, What should my grandchildren call me? 

• AARP's Grandparent Information Center has a variety of resources to help grandparents in various family roles.

• The Foundation for Grandparenting is an organization that advocates for grandparents, promoting the importance of grandparenting as a role which gives important meaning and empowerment to later life, and benefits all family members.

• Grand Media's mission is to provide grandparents of all ages and in all stages of life both information and inspiration. In addition to its Web site, it offers Grand Magazine.

• Grandparents.com is a Web site for active grandparents who want fresh ways to interact, stay connected, and strengthen family bonds.

Tommorrow's post on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will be on grandparents raising grandchildren.