The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

Last week, I looked up when Saint Patrick’s day was so I could write this greeting.

However, with the pandemic crisis, I forgot all about it. I went out yesterday to the credit union and to my local food co-op and Safeway to stock up on more food. When I got home, I followed the Consumer Reports recommendations for washing off my groceries, a time consuming process. Then I wrote about how to do it, also time consuming.

About an hour ago, I saw the governor of Washington state, Jay Inslee, on television wearing a green tie. Strange, I thought. Then, I remembered. It’s Saint Patrick’s Day.

Best wishes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Over the years, I’ve written more than a dozen articles for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They included his most famous quotes, how a day to celebrate King was finally approved, and how it’s a day of service, not a day off.

But one of ones I liked the best was on King’s commitment to eliminating poverty. I found it when I did research on what were King’s thoughts about consumers. In his last book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” written in 1967, King said programs to improve housing and education and to offer counseling to families were sporadically funded and uncoordinated. And, in addition, he said such programs are indirect. Each seeks to solve poverty by first solving something else.

King supported a guaranteed income for all Americans in his book.

Happy Thanksgiving

Best wishes to you and all your loved ones on Thanksgiving Day. I'm fortunate to be able to celebrate with my daughter and her family this year.

I’m thankful for my friends and family, my journalism work, and for our country, which I believe will be able to recover from all the attacks from the Right.

If you’re one of the 41.9 million people driving to Thanksgiving dinner or the 3.1 million flying for the holidays, safe travels.

If you're one of the 165 million people who will be shopping during the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, be sure you make a budget for holiday spending and a plan to carry it out.

Thanks for reading my blog this year. I love doing researching on consumer and personal finance issues and writing about them every day.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Facts and figures for Thanksgiving 2019

Provided by Nationwide

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Baby boomers get ready for the holidays and look beyond

I’m stressed. The holidays are coming, and I’ve been working on my book about my journalism career instead of getting ready. However, I put on a “full court press” and have sent out my holiday cards and presents. Whew. It was a big job to do in a couple of weeks.

Many in our baby boomer blogging group are also thinking about the holidays, but some also are addressing other issues and events.

Since it’s Thanksgiving this week, Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting began to think about holiday trivia and traditions past and present, universal activities as well as annual events that take place closer to home. She summarizes her holiday musings in this week’s post “Thanksgiving Trivia.”

Laurie Stone of Musings, Rants, & Scribbles admits it...she likes simple. That’s why Thanksgiving appeals to her. Yes, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and the Fourth of July all have perks, but, for her, there’s something unassuming and lovely about Thanksgiving. Here are eight things she adores.

During the holiday season, grief can be especially difficult because grief holds on tight. It's a time to be even more supportive to those who have lost a loved one. In "Do You Wonder Why the World's Still Standing," Carol Cassara at A Healing Spirit talks about some ways to be supportive.

Jennifer Koshak of Unfold And Begin asks the question: After that last crumb of pumpkin pie has been eaten this year...what's next? Do your children or grandchildren immediately turn their thoughts to what they will get from Santa this year? Is there more "wanting" than "giving" in their Christmas talk?  And, how can you help them to think about Christmas as more than just a time of getting more? This week, Koshak shares a guest post from one of her friends that includes holiday Vision Board craft activities to get your children/grandchildren focused on the season of giving.

In “What Are We Doing?” Tom Sightings from Sightings Over Sixty takes a look at his coastal environment. Unfortunately, the one word that comes to mind is: plastics.

Rebecca Olkowski with BabyBoomster.com is excited to announce that she’ll be appearing on a new live stream TV show for Awake TV called “Now It’s My Turn: Unstoppable Women Over 50” on Nov. 24. If you miss it, the video will be available online on the show’s website. It will be hosted by Lana McAra. For more information about it, click here.

This is the Best of Boomer Blogs 624. Click on the links to read the great stories offered by boomer bloggers. And, be sure to leave a comment. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Best wishes on Veterans Day

There are about 20.4 million veterans in America, and they make up less than 10 percent of the adult population in the country, according to the Pew Research Center.

The center offers these facts about those who have served in the military and how they’re changing:

1. Gulf War-era veterans now account for the largest share of all U.S. Veterans, surpassing Vietnam-era veterans in 2016.
2. The share of the U.S. population with military experience is declining with 7 percent of U.S. adults as veterans in 2016, down from 18 per cent in 1980.
3. More women will be veterans with the 9 percent in 2016 increasing to 18 percent by 2045.
4. Fewer members of Congress have prior military experience with 20 percent of senators and 19 percent in the current Congress having served compared to 81 percent of Senators and 75 percent of House members after the Korean War.
5. The Department of Veterans Affairs receives a low favorability rating.

Baby boomers focus on change

The leaves are already beginning to change here in the Seattle area, so change and fall are in the air. Fall is definitely just around the corner.

Laurie Stone from Musings, Rants & Scribbles is happy. Yes, spring is lovely and summer’s fun. Even old man winter has his icy grandeur. But nothing compares to fall’s beauty and poignancy. And though this season comes at a price, Stone still loves it for leaves, crisper air, school supplies, the good shows that come back on TV, and candy apples.

Other boomer bloggers are writing about:

Women's Equality Day 2019 – Celebrating votes for women

From Visually.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Baby boomers contemplate life’s problems

It’s still beautiful summer, but hints are beginning to appear that fall and winter will come again as they always do.

Meanwhile, baby boomer bloggers are continuing to write helpful, insightful articles:

Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting spent the past week recovering from her two-week trip to Scotland. As Baer laments, years ago she would have bounced back the next day. Nowadays it takes longer to rejuvenate. Meanwhile, she reviews the cuisine and a bit of culture experienced in the land of kilts, Celts, clans, and literary greats.

When you’re thinking about an exercise program and you’re age 50 and older, you may want to incorporate functional fitness. On Rebecca Olkowski’s blog, BabyBoomster.com, Candi Randolph, a guest blogger, explains why this is so important.

If you’re thinking of starting a blog or are already a blogger, Jennifer Koshak of Unfold and Begin has some tips for you. Koshak has compiled a lot of her knowledge into her current blog post, “My Go-To Blog Resources.”

Tom Sightings of Sightings Over Sixty recently sat down with a couple who is considering where they're going to live, now that they are retired and their kids are grown and out of the house. They have their eye on a smaller home in a nice vacation area. But as Tom discusses in “Should This Couple Downsize?”  there are still lots of issues to consider and questions to ask.  

Laurie Stone of Musings, Rants & Scribbles gets a cold chill when she hears these words. Like someone with post-traumatic stress syndrome, her pulse increases. Her stomach tightens. She starts feeling light-headed. Did she hear that right? Maybe she got it wrong. But yes, her husband Randy just uttered that most dreaded of sentences: “I’m Going Food Shopping.”

On my blog, I write about the 50^th anniversary of Woodstock and what the Countercultural Movement of the 1960s and 1970s meant to me.

This is the Best of Boomer Blogs #610. Be sure to read these thoughtful articles and join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers look forward to hearing from readers.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Woodstock, a three-day event, began 50 years ago today

Woodstock, Aug. 15-18, 1969, the famous music festival drawing more than 500,000 people, was billed as an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace and Music. It was held on a 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York, 43 miles southwest of Woodstock.

Thirty-two acts performed outdoors even though it rained and the fields became muddy. Among the performers were Joan Baez, Janice Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Arlo Guthrie, Joe Cocker, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

I remember the era well, although I didn’t attend Woodstock. It’s often called the Counterculture Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. To me it was an exciting time of change with gains in civil rights, women’s rights, consumer rights, and environmental protection; innovations in food, clothing, and music; alternative lifestyles; and opposition to the Vietnam War.