The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

What do gay baby boomers need as they grow older?

June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.

In a proclamation, President Obama said that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender or LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society.

The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, Obama said, but there’s more work to be done… LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect. And he added:

As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our nation was founded, every American will benefit.

During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

When I marched in the Olympia, Wash., Capital City Pride Parade, I thought about gay baby boomers and what their concerns are, as they grow older.

A study, “Out and Aging: The MetLife Study of Lesbian and Gay Baby Boomers,” takes a look the needs of the boomer generation as it reached midlife and beyond. The study found:

• Both lesbian and bisexual women and gay and bisexual men share a concern about their financial stability as they age into retirement. (1) For women, their greatest fear is outliving their income as they age. (2) For men, their great fear is becoming dependent on others and becoming sick or disabled.

• More than a quarter, 27 percent, of LGBT boomers reported great concern about discrimination as they age, and less than half expressed strong confidence that health-care professionals will treat them “with dignity and respect.” Fears of insensitive and discriminatory treatment by health-care professionals are particularly strong among lesbians, of whom 12 percent said they have absolutely no confidence that they will be treated respectfully.

• LGBT baby boomers want to spend their final days in the comfort of their own homes. Nearly half, 47 percent, said they would like their end-of-life care to take place in their current residence with the help of hospice care, followed at a distant second by 16 percent who would prefer to spend their final days in their current homes without hospice care.

• Lesbian and bisexual women appear to be less financially prepared for the end of life. For instance, they’re less likely than their male counterparts to have purchased long-term care insurance or to have written wills.

• One half, 51 percent, of LGBT baby boomers have yet to complete wills or living wills spelling out their long-term care and end-of-life wishes – yet such documents are important for LGBT older adults given the current lack of legal protection for LGBT couples and families.

• Almost 40 percent of respondents believe that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender has helped them prepare for aging in some way. They’ve developed positive character traits, greater resilience, or better support networks as a consequence of being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

The MetLife Mature Market Institute and the Lesbian and Gay Aging Issues Network of the American Society on Aging undertook this national survey of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender baby boomers in February 2006.

A sample of 1,000 LGBT people ages 40 to 61 participated in an online survey conducted by Zogby International, a polling and public-opinion research firm.

Let me know if this survey reflects your concerns as a gay baby boomer consumer as you approach and enter retirement. Do you have additional new worries about the coming years due to the Great Recession?

 
Note: The photos are from Capital City Pride Parade.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison

Today is Flag Day

Flag Day is observed on June 14 each year, although it isn't an official federal holiday.

Congress authorized a red-white-and-blue flag with stars and stripes, the official national symbol of the United States of America, on June 14, 1777.

In 1885, B.J. Cigrand, a grade school teacher in Waubeka, Wisc., held the first recognized formal observance of Flag Day at the Stony Hill School.

In many magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to advocate for the observance of June 14 as Flag Day.

Throughout the next three decades, other individuals and organizations promoted the establishment of Flag Day.
 
On May 30, 1916, Pres. Woodrow Wilson established by a proclamation the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777.

Although Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson's proclamation, it wasn’t until August 3, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 of each year as National Flag Day.

The act calls on the President to issue an annual proclamation calling for a national observance and for the display of the U.S flag on all federal government buildings.

In a second joint resolution approved June 9, 1966, Congress requested the President to issue annually a proclamation designating the week during which June 14 falls as National Flag Week and to call on all citizens of the U.S. to display the flag during that week.

The longest-running Flag Day parade is held annually in Quincy, Mass., which began 1952 and is celebrating its 57th year in 2009.

The largest Flag Day parade is held annually in Troy, N.Y., which usually draws about 50,000 spectators.

The National Flag Day Foundation has been established to carry on the tradition of the first Flag Day observance. The foundation pays special recognition to Bernard J. Cigrand, and is located Waubeka, Wis.

Each year, the foundation offers a Flag Day celebration, which includes a program, parade, and family activities.

You can get a free U.S. flag today or tomorrow in honor of Flag Day from AmericanFlags.com. The flags are 2 feet by 3 feet, with metal grommets and usually cost $9.99, plus shipping and handling.

Until Monday, June 15, up to one million customers will get flags for free, but they’ll need to pay for shipping and handling.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Take action for peace on Memorial Day

I believe one of the most important actions citizens of the United States can take on Memorial Day is to promote peace in the world.

How can you work for peace today?

Veterans For Peace is offering peace activities in 18 cities including Boston, New York, Miami, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Portland, Ore.

The Boston event, also sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War, Gold Star Families for Peace, and Military Families Speak Out, begins at noon EST. It’s a ceremony for peace on Memorial Day to remember and mourn those who died, but to also call for the end to wars.

In Portland, Veterans For Peace Chapter 72’s annual event "From War to Peace" begins at noon with a short ceremony at the Memorial Coliseum in the Courtyard of the Korean War memorial. The group will then march to the Peace Memorial Park where Benji Lewis, a two-tour Marine veteran/war resister, and Cindy Sheehan, peace mom, will speak.

Other communities where Veterans For Peace are offering rallies include Pueblo, Colo., Gainesville, Fla., North Texas, Manchester, N.H., San Francisco, Bethlehem, Pa., Traverse City, Minn., St. Louis, Mo., Binghamton, N.Y., Albany, N.Y., and Houston.

Check your local newspaper and the Internet for information on peace rallies in your community.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Olympia marches for the species and the earth

The sun came out today for the Procession of the Species, the 15th time residents of Olympia, Wash., have gathered to draw attention to endangered species and our relationship to the earth.

A group of citizens in Olympia was looking for a way to recognize Earth Day’s 25th Anniversary and to mark action in Congress to renew the Endangered Species Act in 1995. They created a community celebration now attended by thousands of people every year.

More than 100 volunteers take on the various jobs needed to make the procession happen.

A studio opens before the parade where people can make huge puppets, floats, masks, headdresses, and banners. Recycled materials and arts and crafts supplies are available. Workshops are offered.

In addition to costumes representing species, musical and dance groups, which this year included a Zebra Band, add a lively beat to the parade. Participants and spectators are encouraged to bring two cans of food for the local food bank.

The Procession of the Species has grown from 800 people participating in the parade to more than 2,500. About 25,000 people watch the parade.

The procession will be featured in the July issue of Reader’s Digest in a story about the best things in America, Procession founder Eli Sterling said in an article in The Olympian newspaper.

For details on the event, see Procession of the Species Celebration.

If you’d like to plan a Procession of the Species celebration in your community, see Start a New Procession.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Top 10 Earth Day top 10 lists

For Earth Day, I thought I’d review Earth Day top 10 lists and see which ones I thought were tops.

1. “Top 10 Earth Day Campaigns You Can’t Miss” – Takepart.com.

I liked this list best because it describes actions and activities from a wide variety of organizations – from Greenpeace to National Geographic to the U.S. Environmental Agency.

2. “Top 10 Cities to Celebrate Earth Day” – NBC.com.

This list is fun. Seattle is described as “Where the folks are green and the plastic bags are taxed.” Among the other cities included are Austin, Texas; Boston; Ashville, N.C.; Portland, Ore.; and San Francisco.

3. “Top 10 Earth Day Songs” – Y! Music.

Robert the Radish picked these songs, but many of those leaving comment thought “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson should have been included.

4. “Top 10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Global Warming” – Earth Day Network.

This is a standard to do list for Earth Day. I selected it because it includes “Plant a tree.”

5. “Top 10 KBB Green Stories of 2009 – Early Edition” – Kelley Blue Book.

It was encouraging to see this list of green stories about cars.

6. “World’s Top 10 Eco-hostels” – Travelbite.co.uk.

This list made me dream – Ireland, Hawaii, Singapore, England, Iceland. I’d love to spend Earth Day at any of these hostels.

7. “Earth Day 2009: Top 10 TV Shows on Planet Green” – Examiner.com.

These TV shows looked interesting and may be worth a look after Turnoff Week is over.

8. “Happy Earth Day – 10 Environmental Films You Can Watch Online for Free” – Urlesque.com.

The films highlight the impact people have on the environment, and the responsibilities they share for the planet's future.

9. “Top 10 Greenest Celebs” – Metromix/Detroit.

Here’s what 10 stars are doing for the Green Movement.

10. “10 Environmental Disasters to Remember on Earth Day” – AlterNet.com.

I put this one last because it’s discouraging to think about events such as species extinction, mountaintop removal, Love Canal, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Hurricane Katrina, and the Great Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

But that’s what Earth Day is about – to recognize all the environmental destruction that has occurred and to develop policies and projects to develop a greener world.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Organic Transitions offers way to survive and thrive in turbulent times

The Organic Consumers Association is offering a new grassroots campaign called Organic Transitions. It’s designed to mobilize consumers and local communities to begin planning and carrying out transition strategies to help people survive and thrive in the turbulent times ahead.
 
Using this new model, organic food and farming will provide a healthy cornerstone for a new, more localized, and sustainable green economy, according Ronnie Cummins, national director of the association.

“We don’t have to wait for Washington bureaucrats or corporate marketers to tell us what to do,” said Cummins in his article “Organic Transitions: Beyond the Gloom and Doom of Economic Depression, Climate Change, and Peak Oil” on Organic Consumers Association.com.

The effort will begin with citizens organizing Organic Transitions committees and campaigns in local areas, he said. Local organic food buying clubs will be contacted and house parties and study and action circles offered.

Cummins said the timing is vital:

We still have a strategic window of opportunity to take back control over our political, cultural, and economic institutions; to create millions of urban and rural green jobs; to transform our educational systems; and to make a smooth transition from fossil fuels, climate chaos, and resource wars to a renewable, peaceful, solar-based agriculture and economy.

I agree with Cummins that we need to green and relocalize our economy and our politics.

Recently I blogged about “What Consumers Need to Do to Help Themselves During the Great Recession.”

I wrote:

What’s needed, I think, is for consumers to join together and help each other in these recessionary times. Consumers, as a player in the economy along with businesses and the government, can have power in the marketplace. However, they seldom organize and act on their own behalf. Consumers more often identify with the interests of the company or group they work for rather than their consumer interests.

Organic Transitions is a great way for citizens to come together to help formulate a new economic model so that we can survive and thrive in tough economic times.

For more information about Organic Transitions, see the Organic Consumers Association Web site.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Public Citizen working for change in Washington in 2009

Public Citizen, a citizen advocacy organization, is leading the charge to make sure citizens’ interests are a top priority in with President Obama’s administration and the 111th Congress.

Its Citizen’s Agenda includes these efforts:

• Breaking ties between lawmakers and corporations.

• Pushing for investment in a sustainable energy infrastructure.

• Ensuring the safety of toys, medicine, and other products.

• Protecting your access to government information.

• Preserving free speech on the Internet.

• Maintaining consumers’ access to justice.

Public Citizen describes these action items in the January/February issue of its newsletter Public Citizen News.

See Public Citizen’s Web site for information about the organization.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

25 things coming back in 2009 are familiar to baby boomers

Ironing, mashed potatoes, recreational fishing and camping, and Amway are among the 25 things WalletPop.com, the AOL Money and Finance site, thinks will make a big comeback in 2009. Baby boomers will remember many of them, such as the meat product Spam, well.

The current state of the economy plays a big role in the list, which follows:

1. The Sharper Image
2. Amway
3. Three-piece suits for men
4. '9 to 5' as a musical on Broadway
5. Brown bag lunches
6. The Camaro
7. Cheap foods
8. Classic cocktails
9. Glass baby bottles
10. Music stars
11. Home hair coloring
12. Hungry Hungry Hippos and G.I. Joe
13. Ironing
14. Line drying clothes
15. Mashed potato variations
16. Non-profits
17. Paying with cash
18. Recreational fishing and camping
19. Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
20. Savings accounts
21. Sewing and DIY fashions
22. Spam, the meat product
23. Movie franchises
24. Thick shoes, fringe hairstyles, and Uggs
25. Lance Armstrong

See the article "Top 25 Comebacks in 2009" for details.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Lead, cadmium, arsenic, PVC found in toys tested by consumer group

One in three toys tested by The Ecology Center were found to contain "medium" or "high" levels of chemicals.

Researchers tested more than 1,500 children's toys for lead, cadmium, arsenic, PVC, and other harmful chemicals to provide information for this year's holiday shopping season.

Lead was detected in 20 percent of the toys tested. The lead levels in some of the products were well above the 600 parts-per-million federal recall standard used for lead paint and would exceed the federal legal limit in February under a new law to be carried out by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Levels of lead in many toys tested were significantly above the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended ceiling of 40 ppm of lead in children's products. Children's jewelry remains the most contaminated product category, maintaining its spot at the top of HealthyToys.org’s "worst" list.

"There is simply no place for toxic chemicals in children's toys," said Jeff Gearhart, the center’s lead researcher.

The center is a Michigan-based nonprofit organization, which partners with organizations across the country to make information available to the public about toxic toys. The center’s second annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in toys is available at www.HealthyToys.org.

Parents and grandparents can search by product name, brand, or toy type to see if certain toys have toxic chemicals.

Researchers tested for chemicals that have been associated with reproductive problems, developmental and learning disabilities, hormone problems, and cancer, and for those that have been identified by regulatory agencies as problematic. Babies and young children are the most vulnerable populations because their brains and bodies are still developing, and because they frequently put toys into their mouths, according to the center.

Highlights from 2008 findings:

• Lead is still in toys – HealthyToys.org found lead in 20 percent of all the products tested, including 54 products – 3.5 percent – that exceed the current 600 ppm recall threshold for lead-based paint, and next year’s national standard for all children's products. When children are exposed to lead, the developmental and nervous system consequences can be irreversible, according to the center.

• It's not just China - HealthyToys.org hasn’t found a consistent correlation between the country of manufacture and the presence of toxic chemicals in toys. Twenty-one percent of toys from China and 16 percent of those from all other countries had detectable levels of lead in 2008 tests. Seventeen toys manufactured in the U.S. were sampled and 35 percent of those had detectable levels of lead. Two toys had levels above 600 ppm. Among the highest lead levels detected – 190,943 ppm – in HealthyToys.org testing was in a Halloween Pumpkin Pin made in the USA.

• It's not just lead – HealthyToys.org found a significant number of toys containing cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and bromine. Nearly 3 percent – 45 products – had bromine at concentrations of 1,000 ppm or higher. This indicates the likely use of brominated flame retardants – chemicals that may pose hazards to children’s health. Other toxic chemicals found in the toys tested include arsenic, cadmium, and mercury. Arsenic was detected at levels greater than 100 ppm in 22 or 1.4 percent of toys and 289 or 18.9 percent of toys contained detectable levels of arsenic. Cadmium was found above 100 ppm in 30 or 1.9 percent of the toys and 38 or 2.4 percent of the toys contained detectable levels of cadmium. Mercury was found above 100 ppm in 14 or 1 percent of products and 62 or 4.2 percent of products contained detectable levels of mercury. 

• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC/vinyl) – HealthyToys.org identified products made with PVC plastic by measuring their chlorine content. PVC is a problematic plastic because it creates major environmental health hazards in its manufacture and disposal and can contain additives, including phthalates that may pose hazards. Twenty-seven percent of toys (excluding jewelry) tested this year by HealthyToys.org were made with PVC.

• Jewelry – Jewelry remains the most contaminated product category tested. Children's jewelry is five times more likely to contain lead above 600 ppm than other products. Fifteen percent of jewelry samples – compared to 3 percent of other products – had lead levels above 600 ppm. Overall, jewelry is twice as likely to contain detectable levels of lead as other products.  Numerous Hannah Montana brand jewelry items tested high for lead, according to the center. HealthyToys.org recommends that consumers avoid low-cost children's jewelry.

The good news, the center said a statement on its 2008 toy report, is that 62 percent or 954 of the products tested contain low levels of problem chemicals, including 324 that contained none of the chemicals.

“These products look and feel no different than other children's products on the shelf,” said Gearhart. “These findings show that manufacturers can and should make toys free of unnecessary toxic chemicals.”

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Baby boomers, seniors need to use caution when buying discount medical cards

With the economy in shambles and layoffs climbing, baby boomers and their parents may be tempted to buy discount medical cards to save money on healthcare costs.

Don't be tempted by the cards unless you research offers carefully to determine how they can meet your specific medical needs.

Discount medical cards save subscribers money by offering discounts, for a monthly fee, on healthcare needs such as physician visits, hospital stays, and prescription medications.

However, the Better Business Bureau points out that the cards aren't healthcare insurance and aren't subject to the same type of regulatory oversight as insurance. In addition, the cards aren't accepted by all physicians or pharmacies.

The bureau has received complaints from consumers who signed up for discount medical card programs and were extremely disappointed with the lack of convenience and actual savings. Consumers say they were:

• Misled by advertisements and duped by sales pitches into thinking they'd save hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, but later found only a limited number of physicians and pharmacies accepted the cards, making their use difficult and inconvenient.

• Scammed by telemarketers who sold them on a program but took their money and ran.

The bureau advises that, before signing up for any discount medical card or card program, consumers should ask the following questions and obtain the answers in writing:

• What is the annual cost of the plan? Don't be swayed by exaggerated savings claims. "Up to 40 percent" doesn't mean a guaranteed 40 percent savings.

• What are the benefits of the discount? What healthcare products and services are covered? Which ones aren't covered?

• Which local healthcare providers and facilities accept the discount card? If the sales person refuses to provide a list of providers, consumers shouldn't do business with them.

• Who do I call if I have a problem with the discount plan? Can I cancel my membership at any time? Is there a cancellation fee, and what is the refund policy?

Consumers should steer clear if they're pressured to "act now," because it's a "one-time offer." They should be extremely wary of telemarketing calls. In order to avoid the threat of identity theft or being scammed, consumers shouldn't do business with salespeople or discount card companies that insist on debit card or bank account information or require that payment be wired to the company.

Before buying a discount medical card or plan, consumers should check out the company on the bureau Web site at www.bbb.org.

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist