The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

In this year of change, the changes keep coming

I should have been more prepared. The Australians warned us. The wildfires they experienced during their summer fire season were the worst in history.

But here I am. Not only staying home due to covid-19, but now, I have to stay inside due to smoky air from wildfires throughout the West Coast.

Maybe the air will clear this week. Maybe not. My daughter in California has been dealing with heavy smoke in the air since Aug. 20. The fires there won’t be out until it rains, probably in October.

See my article for tips on how to deal with smoky air.

Others are dealing with change, too:

Experiencing a funeral in the era of the coronavirus

This week Meryl Baer of Beach Boomer Bulletin returned to her hometown of more than 30 years for the funeral of a good friend. Funerals are different in a pandemic, but mourning doesn’t change. Baer reminisces about her friend and her hometown family.

Learning something new due to covid-19

Tom Sightings at Sightings Over Sixty asks: “Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?” He and his wife have learned something new and different this summer, or as Sightings claims, they've even become experts on the topic. So zoom over to “Old Dog, New Trick” to find out what all the excitement is about. 

Manifesting big changes

Is manifestation real or just the result of an overactive imagination creating connections that don't really exist? Over at A Healing Spirit, Carol Cassara muses about an unexplained coincidence that led to a big life change.

Changing with aging

“When I'm 64?” You can’t imagine how old and wretched Laurie Stone of Musings, Rants & Scribbles pictured this age when she first heard this McCartney song in 1967. She still has about a week to go, but can’t help comparing the lyrics then to the reality today.

Listening to audio books

Have you been getting any reading done while we’ve been stuck at home? Rebecca Olkowski with BabyBoomster.com has been listening to audiobooks. It’s easier for her because of her contacts and aging eyes. She discusses the advantages of audiobooks in her latest post “Have You Been Listening to Audiobooks?” 

Figuring out your wardrobe when you move to Florida

September usually makes Jennifer Koshak of Unfold and Begin start to think about fall cleaning and changing out summer clothes but since she's moved to Florida things are different. Find out more in “The Blush of September.”

This is the Best of Boomer Blogs #667. Click on the links to read the articles. And be sure to leave a comment. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Baby Boomer get through Labor Day as they have other parts of covid-19 life

On Labor Day in my community, we usually celebrate Harbor Days. I go to the waterfront and take photos of the boats, people, and booths selling food and typical summer fair items.

This year, in the era of the coronavirus, we had Harbor Days Lite. No tug boat races were held.

People were encouraged to construct Lego tugboats, make a maritime display in their yard, enter a beach photo contest, see tugboat paintings online, go to an art show in the windows of a historic fire station, and watch videos of maritime music.

I didn’t bother to go to the waterfront. I took my own advice from the articles I wrote for Labor Day: Stay close to home for the holiday weekend.

Meanwhile, baby boomers are writing about:

Baby boomers trying to figure out a new normal in the coronavirus era

As cases of coronavirus spike and scores of people ignore the pandemic, boomer bloggers are venturing out into the new world we have now.

It’s tough. You have to weigh the risks of going out and continually be on the lookout for people not wearing masks. That includes people walking in your neighborhood without masks.

Now, I have to figure out how long covid-19 aerosols hang in the air.

Estate Planning 3-2-1 – Part 3: One task that can make – or break – your estate plan

By Lauren A. Pitman, Attorney

Founder and Author of the Side by Side Planner

Imagine this: a person goes through the trouble of hiring an attorney, making an estate plan, and keeping the plan accessible to their loved ones in an emergency. Then, their loved ones discover a glitch. The deceased’s life insurance policy is payable-on-death to only one of the three children, as it was created many years ago when the family only had one child.

Now, it‘s up to that child to decide: was this my loved one’s true wish for this money, or do I have to share it? What happens now?

Estate Planning 3-2-1, Part 2: Two ways to ease family tension by personalizing your estate plan

By Lauren A. Pitman, Attorney

Founder and Author of the Side by Side Planner

If I have learned anything in more than 15 years as an estate planning attorney, it’s that there’s really no such thing as a “normal family.” That’s because every family is beautiful, whether your “family” is your children and grandchildren, beloved nieces and nephews, or a network of close friends.

That’s why online estate planning tools don’t work: they aren’t customizable enough to work for a real-life family. Real families are too important to risk. I have seen too many sibling relationships fall apart after the death of a parent over what’s “fair.” In extreme cases, contests or disputes lead to permanent family fall-out.

A good estate plan can do more than just preserve relationships: it can even heal old wounds or set things right within a family. Only you know what you think is fair for your beneficiaries.

Baby boomers venturing out some into the new pandemic world

These days, I’m still not going out much. I pick up groceries from my local food coop weekly and order everything else.

However, we’re having socially distance, outdoor events to celebrate the ratification of the 19^th Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote. It was ratified 100 years ago on Aug. 18, 1920, when Tennessee became the 36^th state to approve votes for women. I’m photographing the events, four so far with the fifth and sixth, the final ones, tomorrow.

Meanwhile, boomer bloggers are writing about what’s happening in their lives these days:

Pandemic still changing everything, but people are trying a few things

On Aug. 18, 1920, Tennessee legislators voted to ratify the 19^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing the right for women to vote. It was the largest granting of suffrage in the history of the United States.

As with the cancelation of everything else, events to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of women’s suffrage were canceled.

However, on the 100^th anniversary of the Tennessee General Assembly’s vote, women in my community gathered at a the state library next to a statue of Mark Twain to celebrate. Mark Twain said women should have the right to vote.

It was fun to celebrate such a joyous occasion.

Meanwhile, boomer bloggers are writing about:

Baby boomer lives upset by hurricane as well as pandemic

It’s been a wearisome week for some of our boomer bloggers. They’ve been hunkered down during Hurricane Isaias. As a result of the storm, some had their internet and cable conk out for up to four days.

One also had her computer malfunction, and it spent two days in the computer clinic. Fortunately, she didn’t have to get a new computer. Her Mac was returned in working order. Macs are good machines, in my experience.

The boomers whose internets are working wrote about how to get through the pandemic; a list of safe, reliable, and affordable cars for teens; and lessons from 60 years of living.

Beryl Baer of Beach Boomer Bulletin writes about these articles in the Best of Boomer Blogs #662. Click here to get the links to the articles. And be sure to join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Baby boomers thinking about elections and safe travel

In Washington state, the primary election is Tuesday. Last week, I voted on the ballot sent to me in the mail, then I took it to the drop box about 10 blocks from my house. I’m a big fan of our state’s vote-by-mail system.

There are a  number of important elections on the primary ballot: selecting a new representative in Congress, retaining our great governor, Jay Inslee; and choosing a new lieutenant governor.

On the county level, we need to vote out two right-wing county commissioners. They ran as Independents and fooled voters.

Meanwhile, my baby boomer blogger friends are writing about:

Trump’s executive orders on prescription drug costs are weak, consumer group says

Unable to come to an agreement with Congress on how to curb rising prescription drug prices, President Donald Trump announced four executive orders last week that he said would lower prescription drug prices to American consumers.

The orders:

• Direct federally qualified health centers to pass along discounts on insulin and epinephrine received from drug companies to certain low-income Americans.
• Allow, for individual state plans, the safe importation of certain drugs, authorize the re-importation of insulin products made in the United States, and create a pathway for widespread use of personal importation waivers at authorized pharmacies throughout the U.S.
• Prohibit secret deals between drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit manager middlemen, ensuring patients directly benefit from available discounts at the pharmacy counter.
• Aim to ensure that the U.S. will pay the lowest price available in economically comparable countries for all Medicare Part B drugs. However, this order won’t go into effect until Aug. 24, to give Trump time to get input from the pharmaceutical industry on how they think the 80 percent more the U.S. pays for Part B drugs than other countries can be reduced.

“Today’s executive orders will deliver billions of dollars in discounts directly to patients at the pharmacy counter, safe low-cost imported drugs for Americans, the best deals for America on highly expensive drugs, and direct discounts passed on to patients on important drugs from community health centers," said Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services.

However, Peter Maybarduk, director, Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Program, said despite Trump’s bombastic bluster for more than three-and-a-half years, he’s failed to make any meaningful difference in the lives of people suffering as a result of prescription drug corporation price gouging.