Recession Hits Aging Blacks, Hispanics Hardest Says a New Poll - NAM

"Multiple layers of anxiety" that's how an aging expert describes the reality of life for boomers and elders. This comes from an article:  Recession Hits Aging Blacks, Hispanics Hardest Says a New Poll - NAM  by New America Media's Ethnic Elders Director, Paul Kleyman and is based on an AARP poll.

Among the findings Kleyman describes:

Home life was particularly precarious for aging blacks and Hispanics. More than a quarter of them had trouble paying their rent or mortgage. One in three faced a major problem with foreclosure. And far more of them sought affordable housing than older whites.

Particularly striking was that about one in three black or Latino survey participants either moved in with a parent or adult child in the past year or had a relative move in with them – almost double the proportion of aging whites, who doubled up at home.

Employment impacts were also daunting, with more minority pre-retirees than whites losing jobs, seeing cuts in pay or work hours, delaying retirement or prematurely withdrawing retirement funds to cover costs.

One of the most telling poll results was that almost six in 10 ethnic boomers have lost sleep in the last 12 months due to stress or worry.

“The pre-65 group is the most anxious,” Certner said. “They are concerned about three generations: their parents, their kids and their own retirement. So they are experiencing multiple levels of anxiety.”

Yep. This pretty much sounds like all of the boomers I know--tossing and turning at night wondering how they are going to make it.

There are some amazing...or maybe I should say frightening, statistics that came out of this poll. Even for those of us who are living it. For instance:

Although one in four whites doubted their ability to pay the cost of a serious illness through insurance or savings, more than four in 10 African Americans and two out of three Latinos had little or no confidence they would be protected.

In addition, even though a striking one in three whites expressed little or no confidence that they will have the resources to cover their health care and living expenses in retirement, more than half of black respondents and a whopping 71 percent of Hispanics foresee difficulty making ends meet in their later years.

Scary.

80 Years Old and Still Going Strong!

Dorothy Dimitre makes some excellent point here on what it means to be an 'older' woman in today's society.

Real Life: Some respect, please, for women of a certain age - Inside Bay Area

She makes a lot of sense here:

"In our culture where youth is worshipped and aging is dreaded like the plague, we have a lot going against us. God forbid that a woman should display a wrinkle or a gray hair that indicates that she may be older than she wishes to appear. Young women have it drummed into their heads that they must do anything to avoid appearing "mature." Therefore the multibillion dollar diet, cosmetics and plastic surgery industries exist.

Despite our age, my friends and I feel we still have a lot to offer. We aren't ready to fade into the wallpaper."

have a lot to offer. We aren't ready to fade into the wallpaper.

You tell 'em Dorothy!

Women Delay Retirement in the U.K.

Women in the U.K., like their American counterparts, are having to postpone retirement according to a recent article:


Tens of thousands of women delay retirement amid recession - Telegraph


The article states:

The number of females over the age of 60 in work has jumped during the past year as they struggle to cope with the rising cost of living.

Women tend to have less money than men in retirement because of career breaks taken to have children often mean they miss out on building up the required contributions needed to benefit from the full state pension.

Laith Khalaf, a pensions expert at wealth managers Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Women are more likely to have a broken career history to look after a family and so they will be more likely to feel the squeeze at retirement as a result of the recession.”

This is a familiar story for women caregivers. Also mentioned in my article:

Women and Retirement: "The Big Mistake"

Where is the movement to keep younger women from following this path? Or, to make care-giving more profitable for women?

Recognizing a "Good" Thing

A recent article by Michael Schneider, posted on Variety.com, cites a new study which shows TV viewing audiences for the major networks are graying. The article: TV Audiences Are Growing Older, reports:

The networks still preach adults 18-49, but the Big Three are all expected to post median ages above 50 this fall -- with Fox not too far behind.

According to a recent study by former Magna Global EVP Steve Sternberg, the broadcast networks as a whole have once again grown older than ever. The five broadcast nets' average live median age this year -- in other words, not counting DVR usage -- was 51.

The question is…why is it reported as a bad development? As Schneider says:

If there was any silver lining for the nets, it's that DVR usage attracted a much younger audience, helping temper their shows' median ages somewhat.

The silver lining is that the major networks still have viewers! And guess what…the TV world has been coveting the 18 – 40 age group for almost 30 years, and HOW OLD ARE THEY NOW?

Boomers especially are products of the TV Age from the 1950’s until now. Boomers are sticking with the networks while younger folk abandon them. And, most importantly to their bottom line -- Boomers buy the products advertised on the networks!

Some appreciation PLEASE!

Don't Make Me Have to Put Down My Cane

Seniors are getting a little fed up with not being taken seriously. They are ready to march and protest…just like in the sixties! Senior voices WILL be heard!

Check out this story of Senior protest in Los Angeles:

Police were called on a group of retirees who refused to leave Sen. Dianne Feinstein's West Los Angeles office until she talked to them about health care reform.

Los Angeles police Sergeant Rich Brunson said Thursday that police lured the group of seven outside somehow, then locked the building's doors behind them.

Brunson had said earlier that eight people were being taken into custody, but corrected himself after getting new details from officers on the scene.

A spokeswoman for the 55- to 87-year-old activists said they arrived at Feinstein's office around noon and remained in her conference room more than six hours.

Feinstein spokesman Gil Duran says staff offered the retirees an in-person meeting with the senator during a Los Angeles visit next week but that they demanded to speak with her immediately.

Bet there will be a lot more of this in the months and years to come!

Will Boomers Spend Again?

Have we Boomers reigned in our spending for good? This has been the subject of many articles the past few months as the American economy languishes because WE have put our wallets away for all but the necessities. Okay... so Boomers alone don't drive the economy...but we DO represent a big chunk of it. Take a peek at what a recent Businessweek article on msnbc.com says about our spending habits:

When 79 million people — nearly a third of Americans — start spending less and saving more, you know it won't be pretty. According to consulting firm McKinsey, boomers' conversion to thrift could stifle the economy's hoped-for rebound and knock U.S. growth down from the 3.2 percent it has averaged since 1965 to 2.4 percent over the next 30 years. "We would have gotten here in 5 or 10 years as boomers retire, but we pushed it up," says Michael Sinoway, managing director of consulting firm AlixPartners. "Now [companies] are scared things won't come back." And that's why everyone from Mercedes to Nordstrom to designer Vera Wang are scrambling to remake themselves for the Incredible Shrinking Boomer Economy.

Yep. High end for me these days is Target.

Not so long ago, boomers were never going to die. Filled with a self-confidence born of unprecedented prosperity, many thought rising markets would assure their future. If the economy faltered, well, it would rebound more strongly than ever, as it had so many times before. And so boomers spent — and borrowed — as if there were no tomorrow.

So Boomers won't live forever? Bummer. One of my Boomer friends recently mentioned that it had finally hit her that she's not going to get out of 'this one' alive...and by 'this one' she meant LIFE!

One things for sure, our legacy to America is going to last a good, long, time!

Remembering Dad

Lessons from Dad -- Learned and Not Learned!

What did you learn from your dad and/or father figures?

I learned a lot from my dad, uncles, and male role models (but not as much as I COULD have). Read on....

10 Things Dad Taught Me

(that I listened to)

1. Always keep your car in working order.
2. Take the time to set the table before you eat.
3. 2 or 3 good friends are better than 20 phony ones.
4. Never date a guy who won't meet your family.
5. If you invite someone to your house, have food.
6. Show up at family get-togethers, even if it's for a little while.
7. Your mom may not always make sense, but respect her anyway--she's still your mom.
8. Don't leave the sink full of dishes overnight.
9. Always have your OWN money.
10. Let your children know they are loved.

10 Things Dad Taught Me

(that I WISH I had listened to)

1. You don't need more than 1 or 2 credit cards.
2. A phone call should never take over 20 minutes.
3. Always have carfare (or airfare) to get home.
4. Don't change jobs just for more money.
5. Check the expiration dates on your food items.
6. You can't do everything at once.
7. You will wear yourself out if you burn the candle at both ends.
8. Worry never solves anything.
9. When you cook, fix enough for more than 1 day.
10. Take the time to read directions.