As headlines go, it’s approaching “Dog Bites Man” territory, but it’s a story worth citing all the same as an illustration of the obstacles facing any effort to put Social Security on sounder financial footing. In an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs poll, most voters aged 50 and over opposed any changes to the retirement program that could lead to a reduction in their benefits.
Read the full article at MarketWatch.
Social Security is not in financial trouble, at least not under the current laws that govern the retirement program. That’s the unequivocal answer from Steve Goss, chief actuary for the Social Security Administration, who spoke recently about Social Security’s funding challenges at the annual meeting of the Society of Actuaries in San Diego.
But what about all the headlines about the Social Security Trust Fund will run out of money in 2033?
Read the full article by Center on Longevity Research Scholar Steve Vernon at CBS MoneyWatch.
“The phone call came in the morning. The caller identified herself as a nurse at a familiar hospital. It felt as if my heart stopped when she said that my brother was in ICU with a massive stroke.”
Read the full article at Forbes.
Laura Carstensen, director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. Dr. Carstensen points out that while older workers’ cognitive processing declines with age, their knowledge increases, particularly within a particular skill set. She also notes that older workers also tend to be happier and more emotionally stable. Happy, stable and knowledgeable workers…what’s not to like?
Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.
A $1 million retirement kitty may work for some, but it depends on how much you take out, and what you earn on your savings.
Read the full article at USA Today.
An association of professionals who work at hundreds of elderly-care facilities in the U.S. is calling on the homes to reconsider their policies — or, in most cases, lack of policies — on geriatric sex.
Read the full article at Bloomberg.
A ProPublica and “Frontline” examination of the multibillion-dollar assisted living industry reveals a mishmash of minimal state regulation and no involvement by federal officials.
Read the full article at FRONTLINE.
Fasting two or more days a week is catching on as people seek ways to avoid a range of ailments linked to obesity from dementia to cancer. Building on promising findings in studies of mice by the U.S. National Institute of Aging, researchers are planning the first studies in humans of fasting’s potential to stave off the onset of Alzheimer’s. That disease is just one of many in which scientists are making progress understanding how fasting may help prevent illness.
Read the full article at San Francisco Chronicle.
In the largest genetic analysis of Alzheimer’s ever completed, scientists have discovered 11 new genes that may be tied to the late-onset form of the dementia disease.
Read the full article at CBS News.
A study by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 9 in 10 workers who are age 50 or older say they are very or somewhat satisfied with their job. Older workers reported satisfaction regardless of gender, race, educational level, political ideology and income level.
Read the full article at The Washington Post.