Homeowners Insurance Through Aarp

If you'll be dead in a decade, don't go broke on way out

Dear Mr. Berko: I know you’ve heard this sob story before, but we need your help, and I have to get this off my chest.

I’ve worked for 52 years and never missed a day. I’ve been married for 58 years, and we raised two boys. We have $172,000 in 5 percent CDs and own a home, and the taxes plus insurance costs are killing us.

I was wounded in Korea, came home in 1953, got married and got a job as a bookkeeper at a trucking company that merged with another trucker in 1985. My job was cancelled after 32 years. I walked out with a $32,000 severance package, which we used to pay off our home. I was then hired “off the books” with the same trucker, which then went bankrupt in 2003 after I had spent 18 more years on the job.

We lost $30,000 investing in a mortgage bond in 2008, and I had to go to work part-time at a chain store, where I made $125 a week. I figured we were OK, though; we were getting $1,200 in Social Security, $700 a month from our $172,000 in CDs and $550 a month with my part-time job.

Then two disasters hit us. My back went out. I had to quit my job because I couldn’t stay on my feet for three hours a day, and the insurance company (should have stayed with Medicare) wouldn’t approve surgery for my back. Then our CDs began coming due, so we lost our interest income of $700 a month. We still have $49,000 at 5 percent that comes due in February, but the other $123,000 earns 1.05 percent.

We are hurting badly. Our two sons either can’t or won’t help us. Now my wife of 58 years and I are worried because everything seems so up in the air and difficult. Some of our church friends seem to be in the same situation. My wife and I would like to join those Occupy Wall Street people because they express exactly how we and our friends feel, but at 77, we don’t have the energy.

It’s so hard to believe that after getting shrapnel wounds in Korea, working for 58 years, raising two boys and saving $202,000 that I would be in such a tight money bind. We need your help. We’ve been reading your column for 30 years, we trust you and we hope you can give us some good investing advice that’ll get us the additional income we need very much.

AARP: More than 5 Million Older Americans Need Services and ...

A new report from AARP shows older American’s growing need for services and support to remain living in their homes and communities.

The majority of this population receives help exclusively from family caregivers, but others but others pay for services through public programs, out-of-pocket spending, or private insurance.

“The primary source of public funding is Medicaid, but other sources include the Older Americans Act and state funds,” said AARP.  ”Residential alternatives that deliver supportive services in a home-like environment also play a role in helping older people avoid more institutional settings.”

In 2009, about 10 million Americans living in the community needed longterm services and supports (LTSS), of whom more than half (5.2 million) were age 65 or older and 1.7 million were aged 85+. Those with LTSS needs comprised some 14 percent of the community-dwelling population age 65+ and 38 percent of those age 85+.

According to the report, almost 72% of older adults with disabilities receive help with basic personal activities or household chores exclusively from family caregivers.  Among these, only 28% receive supplemental assistance from paid services (either out-of-pocket, by private insurance, or through a public program.)

In order to receive funding for home and community based long term service and supports waiver, individuals must be at risk of nursing home placement.

However, this doesn’t mean they’re going to get support for services.  According to the report, eligible individuals are not entitled to receive waiver services and may be placed on a waiting list. As of 2007, some 1.2 million individuals were served in these programs, of whom nearly half (49 percent) were older people or adults with physical disabilities.

“It should be noted, however, that spending for this population comprised just 20 percent of all Medicaid expenditures for HCBS waiver programs, as services for this population are less costly than are those for persons with intellectual disabilities,” said the report.

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