The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Blogging Boomer Carnival celebrates its fifth anniversary with travel tips, financial discussions, food and health issues, and pet love

By Rita R. Robison

Blog carnivals collect links pointing to blog articles on a particular topic. A blog carnival is like a special interest magazine. It has a title, a topic that flows through its postings, editors, contributors, and a focused audience. Editions of the carnival come out on a regular basis, often weekly.

A couple of weeks ago, I joined the Blogging Boomer Carnival. This week, the carnival is marking its fifth anniversary with a roundup by Laura Carter, blogging at The Midlife Crisis Queen.

Laura reports on using trout in salad, sightseeing in Dubai, helping adult children financially, hearing problems boomers face, challenging investment decisions, loving pets, and looming food shortages. See "Blogging Boomers Blog Carnival #260" for details.

Baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are America’s largest age group so far, and a fascinating group they are.

Boomers are leading corporations, serving as governmental officials, heading up non-profits, worrying about retirement, and experiencing layoffs at a higher rate than younger workers. They’re also reinventing themselves in trying economic times, with some looking for their dream jobs to keep them happy in retirement.

At each stage in their lives, boomers have changed things. They’re continuing to make America different as they begin entering into their retirement years.

In addition to The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, members of the Blogging Boomer Carnival are: The Accidental Locavore, The Midlife Crisis Queen, Sightings at 60, Arabian Tales and Other Amazing Adventures, So Baby Boomer, Vaboomer, Empty House Full Mind, and Witty Woman Writing.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Overseas travel tips for baby boomers

Baby boomer consumers love to travel.

Vayama, an online travel agency that focuses on international travel, offers the following tips the best day of the week to fly, how far in advance to book flights to get the best deal, when to use multiple flights, and how much a stopover can save:

Travel midweek

International travel deals are entirely based on availability. Since most people travel on Friday and over the weekend, you’ll find the cheapest international airfare deals if you travel midweek, usually departing and returning on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Spend Saturday night

Business travelers fly home on the weekend, so most discounted international airfare deals require a Saturday night stay. Be prepared to spend Saturday at your destination. 

Don’t book too early or too late

When it comes to cheap international airfares, follow the Goldilocks rule: Don’t book too early or too late.

An international ticket booked with less than three days notice will be very expensive, but it will also be pricy if you book too far in advance. Most airlines start competing for passengers around three to four months before departure. This is known as the “Goldilocks Zone.” Search for your international airfare about three to five months out, and you’ll be in the best position to hit the international airfare deal jackpot.

Fly through the side door

If your desired destination is too expensive, try flying out of a secondary international airport, Boston instead of JFK or San Francisco instead of Los Angeles, for example.

The same tips works with your destination airports. If you’re flying to Costa Rica, check out Liberia airport as it’s often cheaper than flying into San Jose plus. In addition, it’s only two hours from Playa Tamerindo and Ollies Point verses the 8-plus hours it takes to get to these designations from San Jose. 

Use the multiple flights function

Vayama has a “multiple flights” function on its “find a flight” box. It’s a good idea to use it because it may be cheaper to fly into one city and return from another; New York to London, returning from Amsterdam, for example. Try different combinations to save.

Add a stopover and save

Direct flights – those with one stop – are also cheaper than nonstop flights, especially when you have a long flight.

For example, the fares for a New York to Johannesburg flight will be cheaper on airlines that add a stopover, usually in Europe, Africa or the Middle East, versus the nonstop option from New York.

The same applies to long haul flights to Asia. One stop in Seoul or Taipei could shave hundreds of dollars off an India trip when compared to nonstop flights.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Tips for baby boomers who are traveling again

Baby boomers love to travel. Boomers consumers now account for more than three quarters of the cash spent on leisure travel in the U.S. every year.

I asked Bob Diener, co-founder of Getaroom.com, to answer the following questions about baby boomer travel these days and to offer tips on using travel dollars wisely.

Rita: How can you find a cheap airline ticket?

Bob: It’s very important to pick the right days to fly. Air travel on Saturday, Tuesday, or Wednesday are the best bets to save money because they are much lower demand than other days, especially Friday and Sunday.

Another important tip is to check different airlines for both directions of your flight. There is no law saying you have to book the same airline for both your departing and return flights. By looking at different airlines you greatly expand your options, so you can find a southerly route in the winter and avoid possible weather delays. You can also save money by booking two one-way tickets instead of a typical round trip.

Rita: What can baby boomers do to reduce their travel costs in the United States? Abroad? What are some deals you can get in Europe this spring before the heavy tourist season sets in?

Bob: Baby boomers that want to reduce their costs should always look to book their rooms in far as advance as possible. Many sites such as Getaroom.com offer substantial discounts for vacations booked 21 or more days in advance. Savings can still be had for the spur of the moment trips by looking at flash sales or daily deal type websites that feature discounts that only last for hours or a day.

Las Vegas is very popular for this generation, and some four-star rooms can be booked in Sin City for only $100 a night. Europe trips through the end of May offer some significant discounts compared to deeper summer travel. Paris, London, and Tuscany are attractive boomer destinations that are very cost effective in July and August.

Rita: What are the top five travel destinations for boomers?

Bob: New York City, Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami, and Washington D.C. are all top destinations for baby boomers. Each of these destinations offers upscale accommodations for surprisingly affordable prices.

Rita: Are more boomers traveling now since the Great Recession is easing?

Bob: Baby boomers have seen their retirement and investment accounts growing in the past year, and this has freed up much more money for them to travel. There’s also less pressure on their children as the economy improves, so they’re worrying less and can spend more cash on longer and more expensive trips both domestically and internationally.

Rita: Thank you, Bob, for giving us your insights on baby boomer travel.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Facts and figures on St. Patrick’s Day 2012

Dublin, Ireland                                        Photo: Marketa Volna

Originally a religious holiday to honor St. Patrick, who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into a celebration for all things Irish.

The world's first St. Patrick's Day parade occurred on March 17, 1762, in New York City, featuring Irish soldiers serving in the English military. This parade became an annual event, with President Harry Truman attending in 1948.

Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1995, and the president issues a proclamation commemorating the occasion each year.

Here are other facts and figures on St. Patrick’s Day from the U.S. Census Bureau:

Population distribution

34.7 million

Number of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2010. This number is more than seven times the population of Ireland itself, 4.58 million. Irish was the nation's second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.

144,588

Number of Irish-born naturalized U.S. residents in 2010.

39.2 years old

Median age of those who claim Irish ancestry. It’s higher than U.S. residents as a whole, which is 37.2 years.

13%

Percent of New York state residents who were of Irish ancestry in 2010. This compares with a rate of 11.2 percent for the nation as a whole.

Irish-Americans today

33%

Percentage of people of Irish ancestry, 25 or older, who had a bachelor's degree or higher. In addition, 92.5 percent of Irish-Americans in this age group have at least a high school diploma. For the nation as a whole, the corresponding rates are 28.2 percent and 85.6 percent, respectively.

$56,363

Median income for households headed by an Irish-American, higher than the $50,046 for all households. In addition, 6.9 percent of households of Irish ancestry are in poverty, lower than the rate of 11.3 percent for all Americans.

41%

Percentage of employed civilian Irish-Americans 16 or older who work in management, professional, and related occupations. In addition, 26.3 percent work in sales and office occupations; 15.7 percent in service occupations; 9.2 percent in production, transportation, and material moving occupations; and 7.8 percent in construction, extraction, maintenance, and repair occupations.

70%

Percentage of householders of Irish ancestry who owned the home in which they live, with the remainder renting. For the nation as a whole, the homeownership rate is 65.4 percent.

Places to spend the day

Seven

Number of places in the United States named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland. Mount Gay-Shamrock, W.Va., and Shamrock, Texas, are the most populous, with 1,779 and 1,910 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind., has 231 residents and Shamrock, Okla., 101, and three Shamrock Townships in Minnesota, Nebraska, and Missouri have populations of 1,272, 413, and 40, respectively.

16

Number of places in the U.S. that share the name of Ireland's capital, Dublin. The most populous of these places is Dublin, Calif., with a population of 46,036.

Another city with an Irish name, Emerald Isle, N.C., has 3,655 residents.

Other appropriate places to spend the day: the township of Irishtown, Ill., several places named Clover – in South Carolina, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – and the township of Cloverleaf, Minn.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What are the best sunrises and sunset you’ve ever seen?

By Rita R. Robison

The most memorable sunsets I can recall were in Tacoma, Wash., Sacramento, and Florida. The one above is in Tacoma.

Sunrises? I’m an evening person, so I don’t have many photos of the sun coming up.

AARP, The Magazine, gives its opinion on the topic in the article “America’s Best Sunrises and Sunsets.” Its picks are:

• First sunrise: Cadillac Mountain, Maine

• Most secret sunset: Key West, Fla.

• Best city sunrise: Salt Lake City, Utah

• Reddest sunset: Grand Canyon, Ariz.

• Last sunset: Mauna Kea, Hawaii

• Sneakiest sunset: Yosemite Valley, Calif.

One of the best tips I have for taking photos of sunsets is to take lots of photos. The light keeps changing, and it’s hard to tell in the small digital camera window what the colors actually are.

For other suggestions, see the Digital Photography School’s “12 Tips for Photographing Stunning Sunsets.”

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Dining outside in the warm weather is this week’s best consumer experience, while having my flight canceled is the worst

By Rita R. Robison

My best consumer experience: Enjoying a dinner outdoors

When my sister and I went to Ft. Lauderdale to visit my niece, we had a nice dinner at Bahama Breeze, a restaurant that features food from the islands.

It was wonderful to sit outside in the nice February weather, visit with my niece and her family, and enjoy a tropical drink with six kinds of rum.

I plan to visit every winter. It’s great to get away from the rainy Seattle-area weather. When I got home, it was snowing and the next morning, snow had accumulated in my backyard.

My worst consumer experience: Having American Airlines cancel my flight

When my sister and I arrived at the ticket counter at Ft. Lauderdale to go home, we learned our flight had been canceled.

The ticket agent said I had been notified in an e-mail on Jan. 6, and we had been scheduled on an earlier flight. However, since I didn’t get the e-mail or I deleted it accidentally, we missed the flight.

The ticket agent scheduled us for a different flight. It left about the same time, but instead of a one-hour layover at Ft. Worth-Dallas Airport, we had to wait three hours for our connecting flight.

I wonder if American is canceling more flights due to belt tightening caused by its filing bankruptcy late last year.

I do know from now on, I’ll call to check my ticket a week in advance to make sure all the details are correct.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

After Florida vacation, snow at home is a surprise

by Rita R. Robison

When my sister and I were returning from Ft. Lauderdale Wednesday, we heard the temperature in Seattle was 39 degrees. When we landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the temperature had dropped to 32 degrees.

As I was driving home, I had trouble seeing well due to the rain mixed with snow.

This morning, I had snow in my backyard.

I had ice on my roof, which was melting and falling off in small chunks.

The neighborhood was covered in snow, too.

By mid-afternoon, all the snow had melted. I'm relieved. I'm not ready to go through another big snow storm like we had in January. Not only was it stressful, but I haven't put my new emergency plan into action yet.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Top 10 tips for preparing for your holiday trip

By Rita R. Robison

When my friend comes to pick me up to go to the airport to go on a trip, I’m usually just finishing up all the tasks I need to do to get ready.

What can you do to prevent last minute frenzy?

1. Make a list of what you want to take. That way, you won’t forget important items. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve forgotten to take a sun hat for a visit to Miami.
2. Arrange well in advance to have neighbors or friends take care of your plants and pets. It’s stressful when the person you had in mind says she’ll be on vacation, too, and you have to scramble to find someone else at the last minute.
3. Print out your ticket and put it and other travel documents in your purse or backpack several days before you leave. You want to avoid the disaster of forgetting your passport if you’re headed overseas.
4. Have all your yard work caught up. One time, I was worried about my gutters just before I went to visit my daughter. Since I was ready a half hour early, I decided to check them out. I found they needed attention. I spent an hour quickly cleaning them. I arrived at the gate just before it closed to passengers.
5. Don’t get distracted by projects that can wait until later. Concentrate on having everything done on time. Another time, when I first started blogging, I thought I had to write my two daily posts before I could finish packing. I completed the posts at about 11:45 p.m. I finished packing into the early morning hours. I only got a couple of hours of sleep before my ride came.
6. Don’t worry about leaving your house spotless. Vacuum your house and mop your kitchen floor several days before you leave. Put away things as you go about your packing.
7. Plan out what clothes you’ll need well in advance of your departure date. That will give you plenty of time to get them washed, dried, folded, and packed. Don’t leave the packing to the day before you leave.
8. Put lotions, sun screen, vitamins, toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, and other items in a canvas bag or other small bag as you think about what you’ll need. That way, they’ll be ready to be popped into your suitcase, reducing your chances of forgetting something.
9. Start early with your holiday shopping. Put the presents you’re taking all in one place so you’ll get an idea of the space they’ll take. If the pile is too big, you may need to buy an additional suitcase.
10. Take a grab and go breakfast to eat on the way to the airport if you’re rushing to meet your deadline. This can help you save valuable time.

Good luck with your holiday travel preparations. I hope you have a great, safe trip.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Top tips for travelers for the Thanksgiving holidays

By Rita R. Robison

Across the state and country, more consumers will enjoy their Thanksgiving feast at a table away from home this year, according to AAA's annual travel forecast.

Nationwide, 42.5 million Americans will travel over the holiday, a 4 percent increase compared to 2010.

Sixty percent of travelers state that the economy has either no impact on their travel plans or that things have improved for them since last year. The remaining 40 percent of travelers state that they will scale back as a result of current economic conditions.

For many, the Thanksgiving holiday is about reconnecting with friends and family. The top five travel activities include: dining, 72 percent; visiting friends/relatives, 67 percent; shopping, 49 percent; touring/sightseeing, 43 percent; and/or going to the beach/waterfront, 27 percent.

If you’ll be traveling in your car, be sure to be prepared for winter by using these tips:

Basic winter safety gear

• Make sure you have an ice scraper, a snowbrush, a small shovel, tow chain, jumper cables, and chains.

Breakdown kit

• Assemble blankets, gloves, boots, warm clothes, a flashlight, food, water, a first aid kit, extra batteries, road flares, and emergency cash.

Information about conditions

• Watch weather forecasts.

• Call your state transportation department’s information line.

• Check the Internet for winter information about conditions on roads before you leave.

Safe driving

• Drive for conditions – use slower speeds, slower acceleration, slower steering, and slower braking in winter conditions.

• Use your headlights at all times

• Remember, four- and all-wheel drive vehicles won’t stop or steer better in icy conditions.

• Don’t use cruise control or overdrive on slick or snow-covered surfaces.

• Leave extra room between your vehicle and the vehicles in front of you. Look farther ahead in traffic. And remember, big trucks take longer to stop.

• Slow down when approaching intersections, off-ramps, bridges, or shady spots.

• Slow down and be extra cautious near the chain-up and removal areas.

• Stay behind well snowplows until it’s safe to pass.

If you’re traveling by air, follow these tips to make sure you get to the airport and your plane on time: 

• Call your airline's customer service number or visit the airline’s website to confirm your flight prior to coming to the airport, especially if severe weather is predicted.

• Print your boarding pass before coming to the airport. Some airlines also offer electronic boarding passes.

• Place identification tags on both the inside and outside of your luggage.

• Place a label on your laptop computer and another on the carrying case.

• Have a viable plan for where you’re going to park at the airport or which shuttle service you’ll hire.

• Put spare lithium batteries for cameras, laptops, and cell phones in carry-on luggage and make sure they are in the original packaging or separate protective cases or have tape across the battery’s contacts to isolate the terminals and prevent short-circuiting.

After you're on the plane, Luis Navarro, M.D., director of the Vein Treatment Center in New York, offers these tips on how to avoid poor blood flow from sitting too long on an airplane or train:

• Avoid prolonged periods of sitting and standing. Walk up and down the plane/train every one to two hours, when possible, for five to10 minutes.

• Get exercise. Do ankle and lower leg exercises, such as ankle rotations.

• Wear graduated compression stocking, preferably knee highs with open toe, which are 15-25mm/hg or 20-30mm/hg.

• Stay hydrated. Double your water intake when traveling. Buy bottled water before you board the plane and start drinking before takeoff. It will take a while before flight attendants will bring water to you.

• Avoid alcohol. Alcohol dehydrates your body so avoiding alcohol a few days before taking a long trip would be a good idea.

Best wishes for a great Thanksgiving trip. And remember, don’t drink and drive.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Celebrating Thanksgiving in the Empty Nest

By Kate Forgach, Consumer Writer, Kinoli Inc.

Guest Blogger

Have your children all flown the coop with nary a look backwards?

For some, Thanksgiving is pretty lonely when your own flesh and blood can't make it home for even a brief visit. On the other hand, you might delight in your freedom from turkey tyranny.

Either way, if you're baby boomers lacking nestlings for the first time, you'll likely need to adjust holiday plans to better suit your new lifestyle.

After experiencing Thanksgiving without family several years, I came up with several ways to celebrate the holiday without feeling abandoned. Read on for six new Turkey Day traditions that might suit your needs. And Happy Thanksgiving.

1. Host an Orphan's Dinner

It really helps to remember you're not alone in this boat. There are plenty of people who'd greatly appreciate an invitation to socialize while enjoying a touch of turkey.

I threw such a party last year and asked everyone to bring a dish to pass. The only thing I had to buy and prepare was the turkey, which made it even easier than being a parental unit in this scenario.

2. Retire to a restaurant

Celebrate kicking the turkey habit by dining out at one of the many eateries that do all the work for you. You'll enjoy the football games much more if you don't have to leap up every 15 minutes to baste a bird. And, you can take advantage of cheap gift cards at such sites as GiftCardGranny to reduce your bill up to 30 percent.

3. Shop

Black Friday has lately seceded space to Gray Thursday. More stores are offering door buster sales on Thanksgiving, according to an article on FOXBusiness.com, so you could get some shopping done without facing the mass stampede to follow.

Or, you might hit the Internet and do some early cyber shopping. You can run price comparisons with a few mouse clicks and have gifts delivered directly to those ungrateful wretches to whom you gave life.

4. Spend the day at a shelter

One of my favorite Thanksgiving activities is cooking dinner at our local homeless shelter. Actually, I don't cook the turkey dinner itself, as there are plenty of people willing to do that.

Instead, I use the leftovers to create future meals for the shelter. It just seems a huge waste to throw away all those bird bones when the makings for broth and casseroles are readily available. Visit HomelessShelterDirectory.org for a list of volunteer opportunities.

5. Brighten someone else's day

The homeless aren't the only ones who could use your volunteer services. Many nursing homes and hospitals would greatly appreciate a visitor who will bring some friendship into what patients may otherwise find a lonely day. 

It's a win/win situation and you just might make some new friends. Check out this excellent blog post for some do's and don'ts when visiting hospitals and nursing homes during the holidays.

6. Get out of town

A childless couple I know make a point of leaving home for the holidays; usually preferring to spend the long weekend scuba diving. While part of the reason they skip town is to avoid miserable family gatherings, they also miss bad weather and crowds of shoppers.

Not all of us can afford a sunny beach vacation, but you might team up with another singleton or couple and rent a cabin, or simply go for a long drive.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist