Senior Section 091919

KNIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE

091919senior
091919
update

www.hap2it.com

September 19, 2019 HAPPENINGS Page 1

NIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE senior INDEPENDENT LIVING 091919
091219
update NOW OFFERING
SHORT TERM RESPITE CARE*
Four Ways To Remain Mentally Bridging the gap between hospital & home.
Sharp In Retirement Providing caregivers needed time off.
We’ll take care of your loved one like family!
(NAPSI)—Many retirees share a fear of gradually losing their ability to *7‐28 days All inclusive, one flat daily rate.
think as clearly as they used to or remember simple information such as
other people’s names. And while everyone has the occasional “senior •Home Cooked Meals
moment,” medical research indicates that aging by itself is generally not a • 24 hour Awake Caregivers
cause of cognitive decline.
•Daily Activities
Here are four simple steps to keep your mind sharp at any age: • Medication management

1. Exercise: It’s important to stay physically active. Simple routines •Laundry/housekeeping
such as taking exercise classes at your health club or taking walks in your
neighborhood every day can do wonders for your mental health. 8500‐8600 Corporate Drive Racine

2. Serve: Research found that volunteering in later life “is associated (262)865‐7152
with significant psychosocial, physical, cognitive and functional benefits
for healthy older adults.” Call Tony to schedule a tour
[email protected]
3. Learn: Experts think that ongoing education and learning new things
may help keep you mentally sharp simply by getting you in the habit of
staying mentally active. Take a class from a senior center or community
college, make it a habit to visit the library and pick up a new book each
week.

4. Finances: A study found that “financial strain was a strong and robust
predictor of worsening mental health” among older adults, including
anxiety and depression symptoms. A life insurance policy is considered
your personal property and—as such—you have the right to sell that
policy anytime you like.

091919

Page 2 HAPPENINGS September 19, 2019 www.hap2it.com K

senior deprived. SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE

update Quality sleep, not just the quantity, is essential. A good night's sleep will
allow you to function well during the day. To get enough sleep, aim to
Dear Doug: Sleep Time achieve "deep sleep" every night. Don't wake in the middle of the night.

Q: In the last few years, I've found my sleeping patterns to be One major change with aging is your body's internal clock. Seniors do
majorly disrupted. I spend more time lying awake in bed and best with earlier wake and bedtimes. Many seniors find it difficult to stay
find myself waking up in the middle of the night. asleep past a certain hour of the morning. Night owls are more likely to
experience sleep deprivation, as they go to bed at their accustomed time
Several friends have shared their similar experiences with needing less but wake up earlier. The lost sleep hours add up and take a toll on the body.
sleep, but I'm pretty sure I'm not getting enough. How much sleep do
seniors need? To achieve an earlier sleep time, consider some lifestyle changes. Avoid
caffeine in the evening as well as eating large dinners. Develop a regular
A: There's no one answer that will suit everyone. Figure out how sleep schedule that is the same every night. Avoid looking at screens while
much sleep is best for you. The amount of sleep you need is trying to sleep. Regular exercise can also help you get more sleep.
personal and variable. Sleep patterns do change with age, and
you will have to find your new equilibrium. Some seniors like to get enough rest by taking an afternoon nap. As long
as you get the necessary number of hours, spacing your sleep out during
Many seniors are comfortable sleeping on the lower end of the average the day may help. If you continue to feel exhausted, consider a doctor's
-- about seven-and-a-half hours per night. However, this is an average and visit. Your sleep problems may be health related or even a side effect of
may not be ideal for you. Experts have found that many seniors are sleep medication you're taking. Losing sleep isn't an inevitable part of aging.

Don't worry about other seniors' habits. This is the best time in your life
to focus on you. -- Emma, Doug's granddaughter

Houseguests

Q: My husband and I are looking forward to welcoming an old
friend to stay with us. He went to high school with my husband
and has been a part of our lives for decades.

The only drawback is we haven't had a houseguest in a very long time.
The last time was with different friends, but we had a rather unpleasant
time and were happy to see them leave. This was despite enjoying their
company later, in different settings!

How can we avoid any of the problems that happen when hosting
houseguests?

A: Be upfront and clear about your expectations and boundaries.
Let your guest know when you plan to be out of the house and
make some suggestions on how they might spend their time.
Suggest some local places or activities your guest might enjoy while they
have some free time.

Mealtimes tend to cause some friction, especially if you have wildly
divergent habits. Inform your guest of your plans to eat and invite them to
join you if possible. Suggest a few potential alternatives for some variety.

Most people find it difficult to spend all their time together, no matter
how strong the friendship. Follow your general routine while inviting your
guest to join you in certain parts of it. Having some different activities will
help you better enjoy the time you have together.

Don't neglect deciding how long your guest will stay with you. Even the
best of guests will wear on you after a while; a guest is very different from
a new roommate. Doing some of the planning ahead of time will help
ensure a more successful visit.

Most importantly, remember to enjoy your time together! Tolerate some
interruption to your daily life. -- Doug

Doug Mayberry makes the most of life in a
Southern California retirement community. You
can find his column in every issue of Your Smart

Reader, available at most grocery stores and
pharmacies where you find Happenings

Magazine. Contact him at [email protected].
Emma, Doug's granddaughter, helps write this

column. To find out more about Doug Mayberry
and read features by other
Creators Syndicate writers
and cartoonists visit the

Creators Syndicate website at
www.creators.com.

K www.hap2it.com September 19, 2019 HAPPENINGS Page 3

262-652-4400 • hospicealliance.orgNIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE 091919
DT2019-3
Want to Advertise Your Downtown Business? 011719
Contact “Downtown” Donny

262.564.8800 • [email protected]
#Downtown Kenosha Magazine

MAGAZINE

Vol.12 Issue 1 OUT NOW!
Vol. 12 Issue 2 OUT NOW!
Vol. 12 Issue 3 OUT NOW!

Get Ready For
Vol. 12 Issue 4
Oct. 25th - Jan. 2020

Online at 031419
downtownkenosha.org
www.hap2it.com K
& hap2it.com

Page 4 HAPPENINGS September 19, 2019

senior SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDAT

update

More SSA Blunders work done before retirement, such as bonuses, vacation pay, and
commissions, do not count toward the Social Security earnings limit."
I recently came across a Facebook page
dedicated to Social Security Administration I mean, gosh, she didn't even have to read the fact sheet. The answer is
retirees. I decided not to join it because one of its Social Security and You right there in the title!
tenets was this: "Never criticize the work being by Tom Margenau
done by current SSA employees." I really don't like What you need to do is get back in touch with SSA. I suggest making a
writing columns that are critical of my former colleagues who work in visit to your local Social Security office. Tell them you want to file an
local SSA field offices or telephone centers. But doggone it! I hear from appeal of the overpayment decision. Bring along any proof you have that
readers every week who have been misled or misinformed by agency shows the extra money you made was, indeed, vacation and sick pay. And
representatives. And I would be remiss if I didn't point out the errors and I believe SSA's rules say they will not withhold any of your upcoming
set the record straight. Here are a few examples from just this week's Social Security checks until they make a decision on your appeal request.
mailbag.
Q: My wife took her Social Security benefits last year when she
Q: I will be 66 in October. I continue to work and make about was 62. I am still working and I will be 66 in November. I
$140,000 per year. I wanted to start my Social Security in wanted to file for spousal benefits on my wife's record and save
October. And you told me that I could do it. You said even my own until I am 70. I read about this strategy in your columns. But when
though I make well over the $46,920 earnings limit, that limit no longer I went to the Social Security office to do this, I was told that the "file and
applies when I turn 66. So I went to my local Social Security office to file, suspend" strategy was no longer available. I had brought along a copy of
and I was told by a nice young man that I am not due any benefits this year your column. He just glanced at it and handed it back to me saying, "I
because I make too much money. He told me that I must wait until January know the law and this knucklehead columnist obviously doesn't!" Is it
2020 to file, which is what I now plan to do. When I asked to see the rules true? Have the rules changed?
in writing, he told me they cannot share that information, but he assured
me that he was right. So I'm sorry, but you are giving out incorrect A: The guy you talked to is wrong. And this knucklehead
information. But still, I really wish I could see something in writing. columnist is right. The SSA clerk is mixing up his filing
strategies.
A: Well, I'll take your word for it that the SSA rep you talked to
was a "nice young man." But sadly, he was not a well-informed It is true that the file and suspend strategy was eliminated a few years
young man. And I will show you something in writing that will ago. (I won't bother explaining what it was because it's gone.) But you
prove that I am right and he is wrong. (And, by the way, shame on him for want to use the file and restrict strategy. And that is still around -- at least
saying he could not share the written information with you. All Social for a couple more months.
Security rules and regulations are public knowledge. In fact, they are all
published on SSA's website, https://www.socialsecurity.gov.) Here is what the file and restrict strategy means: If you turn 66 before
January 2020, you can file for spousal benefits at age 66, and then at 70,
And those rules clearly state that earnings penalties go away the month switch to your own retirement benefits and get a 32% bonus added to your
you turn 66. Beginning Oct. 1, you could make a million dollars per day, monthly checks.
and you would still be due Social Security benefits.
So march back into your local Social Security office and tell that
I cut and pasted a section from SSA's website that explained the rules representative you talked to that it turns out the "knucklehead" was right.
and sent it to this reader. It was too detailed to include in this short column, If he still won't believe you, ask to speak to a supervisor.
but it contained the following points verbatim:
If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has the answer.
"In the year you reach your full retirement age, we deduct $1 in benefits Find his column in every issue of Your Smart Reader - available at most
for every $3 you earn above a limit. In 2019, the limit on your earnings is
$46,920, but we only count earnings before the month you reach your full grocery stores and pharmacies where you pick up Happenings
retirement age. Magazine. Contact him at [email protected]. To find out
more about Tom Margenau and to read past columns and see features
"Beginning with the month you reach your full retirement age, your
earnings no longer reduce your benefits, no matter how much you earn." from other Creators Syndicate
writers and cartoonists, visit the
Q: I just got a letter from Social Security telling me I was overpaid
because I made too much money last year. The letter said they Creators Syndicate website at
were going to withhold my next several Social Security checks www.creators.com
until they get all their money back. I immediately called SSA to explain
that the excess money I made last year was accumulated vacation and sick
pay I received after I retired. When I asked you about this last year at the
time I retired, you told me this income wouldn't count against me. Well, the
SSA phone rep told me that was wrong, and that I was overpaid and that
the money would be withheld from my future checks. I asked if I had any
recourse, and she said no. What can I do about this?

A: Shame on that SSA phone representative. At the very least, she
should have offered you the opportunity to file a written appeal
of the overpayment decision.

She should have also checked the rulebook. Or she simply could have
looked at the agency's fact sheet. It is called "Special Payments After
Retirement," and it includes this subtitle: "Learn how special payments for

K www.hap2it.com September 19, 2019 HAPPENINGS Page 5

ENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE Planning a party or event? 090519

For more information and low rates call us at
262-657-5575 or email us at
[email protected]

SeptVemolubmere71, 720#1290 You Can Also Read It
Online at

MAYORCSJHOPAHRoFNEOSiARHpcNKITSEANkRyVOAISSMHIOIAANNUTopdAay! 091219

Featuring Inside the Smart Reader

NEW 2400 Roosevelt Road
and & 262-652-2600
C USED
MTIRES M-F 8-6:30 • Sat. 8-5:30 • Sun. 9-2:30
Open 7 Days a Week

OVER 20 YEARS IN THE TIRE BUSINESS

100 RebateUP $ When You Buy
4 New Tires
TO

We Carry All Major Brands Of New Tires! Low Profile Tires!

FREE Rim Grind, Valve Stem, and Spin Balance With EVERY TIRE PURCHASE!!

3 OFFAny used tire$ SET OF

90S4t%aArttTingITR$R1EE7SA5D 091919

Valid through 10/31/19.

Buy 3 Get One Towing & Roadside Assistance!

FREE The Cheapest &
Best Tires In Town!
New Tire

Valid through 10/31/19.

Page 6 HAPPENINGS September 19, 2019 www.hap2it.com K

senior Blood pressure levels and symptoms were While good blood pressure control helps SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDAT
monitored over an average 15 visits per patient. reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, it's
update During each visit, blood pressure was measured long been believed that aggressive treatment
three times while a patient was seated and one could increase older adults' risk of falls, which
Aggressive blood pressure time after two minutes of standing. can result in fractures, lengthy hospital stays and
treatment not risky for death. One in four older adults has a fall each
seniors: study This was done to detect any changes and year, according to the National Council on
symptoms of orthostatic hypotension (OH), a Aging.
Intensive treatment to lower high blood sudden drop in blood pressure that can occur
pressure can decrease older adults' risk of sharp when a person goes from sitting to standing. OH "Falls can be devastating in this older
blood pressure drops that can cause dizziness is associated with dizziness and increased risk of population. As a result, there is substantial
and increase the likelihood of falling, a new falling. concern about anything that might increase their
study says. It included more than 2,800 patients, fall risk," said study lead author Dr. Stephen
average age 63, who had recently suffered a More aggressive blood pressure treatment and Juraschek, an assistant professor of medicine at
stroke. Half received more aggressive treatment systolic blood pressure of 130 mm/Hg or under Harvard Medical School.
to lower their blood pressure to below 130/80 was associated with a lower risk of OH. Systolic
mm Hg. The others got less intensive therapy blood pressure is the top number in a reading "However, our study provides strong
with a target of between 130-149/80-90 mm Hg and represents the force of blood flow against evidence that intense blood pressure treatment
or more. the arteries when the heart contracts. does not induce orthostatic hypotension or its
symptoms," he added in a heart association news
The study was presented Saturday at an release. Previous studies have yielded
American Heart Association meeting in New inconclusive findings.
Orleans. Research presented at meetings is
typically considered preliminary until published
in a peer-reviewed journal.

Kenosha Funeral
Services and
Crematory

Quality • Value • Service

When you need it the most

Complete Funeral……$5,990 091919

Includes: Professional Service Fee, Embalming, September 19, 2019 HAPPENINGS Page 7
Other Preparations, 1 Hour Visitation, Funeral
Service, Graveside Service, Use of Funeral Coach &
Other Necessary Vehicles, 20 ga. Steel Non-Sealing
Casket, Outer Burial Container, and Register Book.

Make An Appointment To Pre-Plan Your Funeral Today

Prepay for your funeral now and
the price will be guaranteed.

8226 Sheridan Rd. Kenosha, WI 53143
(262) 652-1943

www.kenosha-funeral-services.com

K www.hap2it.com

SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE.SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDAT
072519
We Invite you to tour 091919
our Assisted Living

Apartments

1 & 2 Bedrooms Available

Affordable at most income levels.
Call Today To Tour 262-619-0000

Home Harbor Of Racine - An Assisted Living Community
1600 Ohio Street, Racine, WI

Office: 262-619-0000 - Income restrictions may apply
www.homeharborracine.com

Comfortable
Housing

Pay Only 30% of Gross Income for Rent!

1 Bedroom, Heat, Appliances

Oakview Manor Apartments Ages 62+ Washington Court Apartments Ages 62+

4720 Byrd Avenue 55110011WWrrigighhttAAvvennuuee

Racine, WI 53406 Racine, WI 53406

262-880-4757 262-632-0732

Call Reilly-Joseph Company for an application today!

OPPORTUNITY (414) 271-4116

Page 8 HAPPENINGS September 19, 2019 www.hap2it.com K

091919 SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE • SENIOR UPDATE

Follow

on &

011614CL

www.meredithfuneralhome.com September 19, 2019 HAPPENINGS Page 9

We offer Forethought¤ funeral planning funded through the purchase of whole life insurance from Forethought Life Insurance Co., Batesville, IN .
A representative of our firm, who may also be an agent of Forethought Life ¤ , can answer any questions you may have.

K www.hap2it.com