Story of 105 year old Martini Lover – shared by Jeff at CPA Allies

This 105-Year-Old Martini Lover Has Been Retired for Almost 40 Years. Here Are Her Smartest Money Moves

Written by Elizabeth O’Brien, Nov. 6, 2018

Patricia Lyons Harrington recalls applying for a credit card in the 1950s, when she was a single, middle-aged school teacher in Boston. The company turned her down, since gender discrimination was as common in credit transactions as in other aspects of society.

More than a decade later, the tide began to turn, and the same company sent her a solicitation. “I said ‘no thank you,’” recalls Harrington, 105.

Well past the century mark, Harrington retains the feisty spirit that helped her forge her own career and manage her own money at a time when most of her peers married and stayed home to raise children.

Click here for more of this story

October 20, 2018November 6, 2018

Cards for the Elderly

The Cards For The Elderly campaign has been running since 2015 in partnership with Christ Advocates For the Elderly also known as C.A.F.E.org. The idea came about during a conversation about doing something for seniors during the holiday season.

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The inspiration was my own 70 year old mother who lives in England. I had sent her a birthday card, which she determined was highly worthy of telling her church friends and the pastor about. After she had bragged about her loving daughter who had sent her this beautiful card, the Pastor of her church mentioned it during his ceremony and asked my mother to bring the card to him, which he then read to the entire church as an example of how simple it is to give love and how greatly an affect it can have on the receiver and that his church members should do more simple gestures just like sending a greeting card.

I shared the idea in a meeting with other Senior Providers and they all wanted to help by contributing cards from their families. The first year we collected a little over 100 cards, all signed with a message “to a friend”. Children sent cards. a couple of artists sent a bunch of hand made cards, regular Christmas cards were sent, holiday or friendship cards were received too.

For the first couple of years, two of us dressed in our Christmas attire, went to Remington House Senior Living community in Conyers, GA, to deliver all 100+ cards. We handed them to the residents who we met while walking around, some were placed on tables in the dinning area and the balance were placed in a basket in the common area.

Just a few years later, we have involvement from the Girl Scouts of Conyers (club 17015), who are supporting the campaign in a very special way.

First, the Girl Scouts and a host of other volunteers are knitting TwiddleMuffs to be given as gifts along with the cards. Twiddlemuffs are known to be very effective for people living with dementia or Alzheimer’s because it is something to “twiddle” or fidget with and has a calming effect for the person holding it. Each Twiddlemuff has different textures, a warm and cozy feeling and gadgets to twiddle – apparently they add to the quality of life as they keep the brain active and stimulated. You can learn more here.

Second, the Girl Scouts group will join Dawn from C.A.F.E and myself to deliver the #Cards4Elderly directly to the seniors living in a couple of Conyers Senior Living and Memory Care Communities. We know that people don’t always have their grandchildren living near by, so the girls will provide much joy as they interact with the residents and give them a gift. Inter-generational interaction is also a fulfilling activity for both young and older groups.

Dawn, the founder of C.A.F.E.org found a Twiddlemuff pattern when searching online for a muff crochet pattern for her 78 year old father who has Neuropathy in his fingers, which means his hands are always cold. After seeing him use a heating pad to keep his fingers warm she searched for muffs and came across a site that spoke about Twiddle Muffs for Dementia and Alzheimer patients. Inspired, she set about making the connection with others who could help to crochet as many Twiddle Muffs as we receive in holiday cards – not just for those with cold fingers – we now have gifts to share with seniors and memory care residents of senior living communities.

Our #Cards4Elderly campaign runs for 2-3 months leading up to the Christmas holiday and we deliver cards and Twiddle Muff gifts to the communities during the week of Christmas.

Please support our small act of kindness by sending a card to:

C.A.F.E. Org

Cards 4 Elderly

PO Box 82382, Conyers, GA 30013

If you have questions, please call (678) 609-8019

March 11, 2018March 11, 2018

Baby Boomer Eight!

By Genie McGee, Reverse Mortgage Planner

While all the attention seems to be on millennial home buyers, it is important to also focus on the other end of the spectrum – Baby Boomers! Increasingly, tapping growing housing equity via a Reverse Mortgage loan is a viable option. There are eight issues that most Baby Boomers have to face as they enter Retirement.

HouseOnMoney

I call them my Baby Boomer Eight: Continue reading “Baby Boomer Eight!”

July 5, 2017July 14, 2017

American Seniors’ Home Equity Rise 3%

Photo credit: 401kcalculator.org

Extra money can be used for updating home to age in place

Seniors and their adult children decide every day on aging dynamics and the feasibility of remaining in a long-term residence. While many seniors choose to , there’s a share of seniors that desire to remain in their homes or age in place.

Peter Bell, president and CEO of NRMLA and president of the National Aging in Place Council, positions using home equity as a way for seniors to update their homes to age in place.

“Instead of moving out, various modifications, such as stairless entryways and wider bathroom doorframes, can be made to accommodate new mobility and accessibility needs,” he said. “The housing wealth our seniors have built up in their homes over the years, their home equity, can be used to update the family house into a space for living comfortably and independently for years to come.”

A few stats about American homeowners aged 62 +

According to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) and RiskSpan, this demographic had $6.3 trillion in total home equity at the end of the first quarter 2017, a 3.1% increase between fourth quarter 2016 and first quarter 2017
NRMLA and RiskSpan’s Reverse Mortgage Market Index, reached 227.07 in the last quarter, the highest since it was created in 2000.
Seniors’ home equity has been rising steadily for much of this decade, only falling in three quarters in 2010 and 2011 during the recovery from the housing crisis and recession.

If you or a loved-one has questions about aging in place versus looking for a residence better suited for them, there’s a whole for that!

Sources:

Reverse Mortgage Daily

PEMCO Realty

May 17, 2017November 4, 2021

The Best Tips On Modifying And Preparing A Home For A Visual Impairment

Photo via Pixabay by Pexels

If you or a loved one have recently been diagnosed with a visual impairment, you’re probably thinking about ways to improve and modify a living space to make a home safe and comfortable. It can be overwhelming at first, but the key is to start small and work your way up. Sit down and make a list of any daily activities and how they’ll need to change; for instance, voice software that will aid with working on a computer.

You’ll need to do your best to add up all the expenses you expect to incur. You might find that moving will end up being the best option. At least add up the potential costs of moving, and compare. It’s important to think about function and safety over anything else. Here are a few tips on how to create a safe living space that will work well for you or your loved one.

Look at your lighting

The lighting in your home is extremely important. Natural light is usually preferable to individuals who have a visual impairment, but it will be necessary to have another means of lighting dark corners, closets, stairways, and the places you spend the most time.

Be careful about lighting that creates glare as certain types of flooring can become very shiny under bright lights and might create a fall hazard.

Make important things easier to find

It will be very helpful to mark important things–such as the thermostat, the knobs on the oven, and the edges of stairs–with brightly colored tape. Color and texture are extremely useful for people living with a visual impairment, so wrapping your toothbrush with a rubber band might help you differentiate between yours and the ones belonging to your spouse or other family member.

Clear clutter

Your home needs to be safe first and foremost, so clear out any clutter in the main living and walking areas. Don’t forget to either remove throw rugs or tack them down to the floor so the corners don’t turn up and create trip hazards.

Use color

Contrasting colors are extremely helpful for the vision impaired, so consider painting the walls behind appliances and around light switches a bright color to make things easier. This is an especially helpful tip for the bathroom, where walls and appliances are likely to be white and blend in with one another.

Get organized

Organize the pantry, closets, and cupboards and use a braille label maker to make small or similar items easy to find. Group like items together in a way that will make sense to you and memorize the groupings.

Think about safety

Disabilities of any kind require a new way of thinking about safety, so it’s important to think ahead and make sure smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguishers are in proper working order and in every room. It might also provide you with a bigger sense of safety to have a security system installed with a loud alarm.

Consider these factors and how you can either incorporate them into your current living environment. If moving might be a better option, try to see what you can find on the market that covers at least some of this. Chances are, you’ll still need to adjust, but investigate all your options, because doing so can make a huge difference when it comes to how much it’s all going to cost.

Guest writer, Jim Vogel, at

If your senior parent or other loved-one needs to find a residence better suited for them, a SRES®-designated REALTOR is best trained to handle their real estate needs. ready to assist you or your parents to make this a smooth process.

April 7, 2017November 4, 2021

3 Questions for Seniors Looking to Buy a New Home

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

When we think about purchasing a new home, we often think about young families looking to expand or people looking to move to a different part of their city (or even across the country). Once a person hits retirement age, we don’t think about them purchasing a new home.

Seniors have plenty of reasons to purchase a new home. There’s no rule that says you’re locked into the house you’re living in once you hit a certain age. If you’re a senior in the market for a new home, there are three basic questions you need to answer before you get started.

Why am I purchasing a new home?

The reason why you’re purchasing a new home should drive the type and location of the house you choose. Many seniors choose to move in their later years to downsize. Maybe you’re living in the house you’ve lived in for decades and it’s simply too much room for you now that the kids are gone. If so, you need to look for a low-maintenance home. Maybe you’re moving because of mobility reasons. If so, you need to make sure that the new home you buy is set up for prime accessibility. Maybe location is what matters most, as you’re moving to be closer to family. Figure out your prime motivation for moving and tailor your home search around it.

How am I going to finance it?

For some seniors, this usually is not a tricky subject. If you’re financially stable, you may choose to finance your new home in the same way you financed your last home – with a standard mortgage.

But for some seniors on fixed incomes, the question of paying for their new home is a little more complicated. It is worrisome to think about paying a large monthly mortgage payment on a fixed income, and worse yet, dipping too heavily into retirement savings.

One popular way to finance a new home if you’re over 62 is with a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), a type of reverse mortgage. Here’s how the American Advisors Group describes it:

“With the HECM for Purchase reverse mortgage, the borrower provides a down payment using the sale of the previous home or other savings. The equity earned through the down payment and the new home’s value is used to calculate the reverse mortgage loan amount. During this process, borrowers may need to meet the loan-to-value ratio requirements with a significant down payment and provide verification of personal income and funds. All or part of the reverse mortgage funds then cover the remaining cost of the home, just like with a traditional mortgage.

The benefit to financing with a reverse mortgage is that instead of paying the loan back every month over time like a traditional mortgage, reverse mortgage repayment is deferred to when the loan matures.”

This means no monthly mortgage payment – payment is due when the house is sold or the inhabitant dies. Keep in mind that you’re not building up equity in that second home, and there could be very little left in equity once the reverse mortgage is paid off.

When you’re thinking about financing, you should also consider what repairs or improvements will be needed in the home for it to be a safe and comfortable place for you to live as you get older. For example, what will the cost be if the bathroom needs a remodeling for it to be more accessible for you or your spouse? Or are there outdated appliances in the home that will need to be replaced soon? It’s important that you’re clear on all the home’s needs before making a buying decision as repair costs can add up quickly.

Remember, you do not have to make these tough financial decisions on your own. It’s best that you talk to a financial advisor to come up with a budget for your new home and to figure out the best way for you to finance your new home.

How am I going to handle the move?

Moving is tough on anyone – regardless of age – but it can be especially taxing on seniors. You need to plan. Don’t be afraid to de-clutter. Hold yard sales and distribute meaningful items to friends and family. Slowly pack boxes as to avoid injury and strain. For most seniors, it may be best to hire professional movers if you don’t have family members that can help you move.

See

Guest writer: Jim Vogel, at

If your senior parent or other loved-one needs to downsize or find a residence better suited for them, a SRES®-designated REALTOR is best trained to handle your loved-one’s real estate needs ready to assist you or your parents to make this a smooth process.